FloweyTale
by Shells124
Summary: Asriel died. He knew he had. Much to his surprise, however, he revived. His body was changed forever, his family was broken, and his soul was nonexistant, but he was alive. And for some reason, he was determined to stay that way. This prequel to Undertale covers the life of Flowey the Flower through his many resets as he both saves the world and kills it.
1. Reset 0: Stinking Flower

_"What are you doing?! Do you want us to die?!"_

 _"I'm sorry. I just can't do it. I... I can't... No. I won't..."_

Consciousness eased in, sifting the darkness away from my vision to let in light. All I could see was the gentle flickering of sun drifting over a sea of golden petals. Those flowers. Had they always been so big? I had only seen flowers like that once, and in that state... Well. Everything had seemed small at that time. What happened? My memory seemed to be blank. Was I still... Where was I?

Instinctively, I tried to sit up, only to find that my body was already upright. What? How could that possibly be? My head swiveled around, taking in my surroundings. It wasn't my imagination, these flowers were huge. And yet. This room looked familiar. I turned to where I knew I could find them, and sure enough, two great thrones loomed over me. I was in the throne room! There weren't any flowers in the throne room, were there? No, this wasn't right. It looked like the throne room, but everything was massive, as if someone had made an exact replica of the place I was so familiar with, only they had increased the dimensions to be greater than ever.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out, my voice cracking. It sounded so much higher than normal. "Where am I? What's going on?!" I began to cry. My hand came up to rub at the tears that were stinging my eyes. Suddenly my vision was filled with a great leaf. One of the flowers? I jerked back and the leaf shot forward along with another, identical one. I screamed out, horrified. What was happening?

I wasn't sure how long I was crying for, calling out for my parents. For a while, I wondered if I would be alone forever. The thought of no one coming to comfort me filled me with more fear and anguish than I could have ever thought possible. Wasn't someone going to come to help me? How could I deal with this on my own?

Eventually, someone did come. "Hello? Who's there?" a low bass voice rumbled from behind me. Dad! It was Dad!

"Dad, it's me! Where am I? What happened?" I whirled around, only to find myself rooted in place. What was wrong with my legs? I managed to pull myself around enough to look up at my father. He loomed over me, just as disproportionately large as the throne on the other end of the chamber. His eyes were wide, staring at me as if he wasn't sure what he was looking at.

"Hello there. Um. This is a surprise. Er. I'm sorry, but I don't believe I've ever seen a monster quite like you before. I've never seen a plant cry before. Can I get you some tea?" He knelt to one knee and brought his face closer to mine.

"W-what? D-don't you recognize me? Dad! It's me!" The flow of tears got worse. I firmly planted both hands on the ground and shifted my body to face him. My eyes went wide as I saw those two leaves below me, supporting my weight. I couldn't focus on that now. I looked up to meet my father's baffled gaze. "Dad?"

With a great thump, my father collapsed into a seated position, flowers swaying around him. The wind tugged at my frail form, pushing me away just as it had with the golden petals at his feet. "No..." he rumbled. "It can't be... You're..."

Memory washed over me. "Dead," I finished abruptly. I had died. I had felt my body dissolve into dust, felt myself collapse as darkness swallowed me. I had been here, in this very room. Numb, I pulled myself upright, bringing both arms around to stare at my hands. Leaves stood in their place.

"Dad, what's going on? What's wrong with my body?" Panic settled in and I began to sob. I tried to ask more questions, but all that issued forth from my mouth were strangled gasps. My breathing became rapid, my body spasming from the effort. Before I knew it, my father's arms were around me, comforting me. I let myself collapse into his huge chest, bringing one leaf up to press against his arm. It was obvious that it was a strain for him to not crush me in his embrace. He probably could. He was so much larger than me.

"There there," he murmered, "It's going to be alright. Everything is going to be OK." I could hear it in his voice. He was crying, too. All I could see was the leaf that had replaced my arm. I looked down and could see the massive folds of great golden petals below my neck, and instead of a chest, a stem extended downwards.

"Asriel, you've got to stay determined."

I had died. My body was gone. And instead I found myself a flower.

 _"This is your fault! Why didn't you stick to the plan?! We're dead because of you!"_

 _"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Chara. I said I would trust you. I just... How could I ever hurt other people?"_

The King held me for what seemed like hours, even when my own breathing settled as shock and fear eased into frustration and anger. Chara was right. What was I thinking? Stupid! How could I have been so stupid! I was dead now, and somehow stuck as a stupid flower. Dad murmured softly to himself next to me, clearly not sure how to do anything else now that his son, the one he had watched die, was back from the grave. Tears still stained my face, but my expression was hard as I glared at my surroundings. I felt hurt. Hurt that I had been betrayed by fate. I had tried to do the right thing and had been rewarded with misery.

All I wanted to do was push away from the immense weight of my father, to run away, to hide, to pretend that none of this was happening. This was just a bad dream, wasn't it? It wasn't fair!

I had expected to be comforted by having my Dad there, but instead I found myself becoming more and more annoyed with him. The way he cooed. The way he kept repeating the same phrase again and again. It's not going to be OK, Dad. Nothing about this was OK. And would he let go of me already? The incredible size difference between us was enough to make the position extremely uncomfortable. My back felt like it would snap in half. Well... Not my back anymore. My stem.

Finally he let go, only to rest a massive paw on my head. I suppose he meant it to be an affectionate gesture, but all it did was push more golden petals into my view and emphasize just how pathetic my current circumstances were.

"Asriel," he said softly, "Would you... Do you need anything?" Of course I needed something! I needed my body back! I needed this nightmare to end! Why hadn't I trusted Chara? Looking into my father's face served as an unpleasant reminder of what I had lost. What I could have been. What I should be right now. The power that Chara and I had held... Wasted. All because I wasn't strong enough. I began to cry again.

"No, there's nothing you can give me right now."

He leaned back with a sigh, staring at the domed ceiling. A smile began to form on his muzzle as he shook his head in wonder. How could he be smiling at a time like this when everything was so horribly wrong? I was a flower! A stinking yellow flower!

Just like the flowers Chara had used...

There was a bitter irony to this situation. I was sure that somewhere out there, the cruel God who had come up with this was laughing maniacally. Flowers. I hate flowers! None of this would've ever happened if it weren't for these stupid flowers! And there my father was sitting there stupidly like we were on a picnic!

I glared down at my newfound body. The stem disappeared into the dirt and I could feel roots extending out underneath me. Focusing on the roots, I found that I could move them around. I wasn't completely immobile at least. I squirmed until I was properly settled into the squishy soil and wrapped my leaves around what would have been my waist if I weren't a flower. Part of me wished that my flower body would shrivel into a little ball and die. I would rather be dead than have to deal with this.

The impact of that thought suddenly hit me and I shivered. "No," I clarified in my head, "I'm not ready to die just yet." The thought of it scared me.

"It's a beautiful day outside," Asgore said, breaking the silence. "Perfect for a game of catch." Yeah. Catch. Add that to the list of things I can never do ever again. Thanks for that, Dad. I took the opportunity to look up at the sunlight filtering through windows and barrier. The light seemed muffled compared to the bright sun of the outside world. There were a lot of things I would never do again. As if reading my bitter thoughts, my father seemed to have an epiphany about what he had just said and looked back at me. "Er. Well. Perhaps I'll have to get a smaller ball for you."

I turned away from him, not wanting to justify that with a comment. With my back to him, I suddenly noticed something that had been bothering me but had been too panicked to conclude what it was before. Mom's throne. It was scooted back into the corner and had a sheet draped over it. What?

"Dad, where's Mom?" Mom would know what to say right now, how to cheer me up. She had always been there for me when I was crying or in pain.

I could hear the king hesitate behind me. That wasn't a good sign. "Your Mom... Tori... She... Well, she's disappeared..." I glanced his direction and saw intense sorrow filling his features. His entire body seemed to droop from the despair.

"What?!" I couldn't imagine Mom leaving us for anything, and with the underground being so small, it was practically unheard of for a monster to simply go missing. "Have you looked for her? What happened?"

"I've had the royal guard on the lookout for her, but... Tori..." The name almost seemed painful for him to say, as if it were something that should be treated with reverence. "I don't think she wants to be found. Least of all by me." He left it at that, obviously too distressed by the topic to elaborate further. A thousand questions ran through my mind, but I knew my father well enough to know that I wouldn't get any helpful answers from him. This was why I usually went to Mom. Dad was pretty useless most of the time.

I found myself more frustrated than hurt that my mother had left. Of all the people who could probably help me, she was the only one I trusted to know exactly what to do, but she's the one person who was gone. Well, her and... I didn't want to think about Chara. Everything about this whole situation was just stupid and unfair.

"But I have you now," Asgore suddenly added, trying to put a positive turn to the conversation. "I thought I'd lost you, but now you're back! Miracles really do come true!" Sure. Miracles. The kind that turned monsters into flowers. The king abruptly stood up, some idea lighting up his face. "I've got to tell everyone about this! It will bring them hope!" He strode to the door, his cloak sweeping out behind him as he left. "Alphys! Alphys!" His voice faded as he practically ran to go tell the world the news.

A groan escaped my lips. I didn't want anyone to see me like this. To be paraded in front of every monster, to pretend to be happy at this misfortune that had befallen me. I wasn't some hero who had come back from the dead. I felt more like a failure that had been sentenced to never-ending torment. My first instinct was to try to follow after him, but I tossed that idea out the window when all I managed to do was wriggle in place and eventually unearth a single root. Great.

Maybe I could burrow beneath the ground. Hide in the dirt where no one could find me again. That didn't sound particularly pleasant, but it was better than the alternative. I wanted Mom. I wanted Chara. I wanted everything to go back to the way things used to be. My tears seemed to be never-ending, flowing down my cheeks one after another. I was so frustrated with myself and how useless I had become. The dirt really was the best place to be.

I squirmed down into the mushy soil. Going down seemed much more natural than going up. Soon, only my head remained above the surface. Then, taking a deep breath and squeezing my eyes shut, I plunged below into the depths. I wasn't sure what I planned on doing once I got down there, but I didn't have any other ideas.

It was warm and strangely comfortable in the ground. I opened my eyes and let out a squeak. I could see! I had been expecting to only see gritty rocks, but I could make out the throne room above me. It seemed that even in this feeble form, I had some measure of magic left, though it was different from the fire magic I was used to. Moving was also much easier. It was very much like swimming in both sight and feeling. The dirt appeared to be like murky water, the surface visible, the bottom disappearing into an unknown depth. Roots dangled from the golden flowers above.

With this newfound way of traveling, I pushed onward, filled with new determination. I popped back up above ground. I could do this! It was amazing the difference it made being able to move again. My tears were finally starting to dry. Such a small thing, the ablilty to walk. One of those things that I never thought about as a blessing until it was so cruelly taken away from me. Although I was still upset at being turned into a flower, for the first time since I had woken up, I felt a glimmer of hope.

 _"Chara? Why? Why do you want to kill all those humans?"_

 _"I think that's pretty obvious, stupid, they were attacking us!"_

 _"You only said seven. Just enough to break the barrier. Just enough to free everyone."_

 _"Yeah? And did you get those seven souls? Are we going to save monster kind?"_

 _"... No..."_

 _"Exactly."_

Dr. Alphys stood in the doorway with her eyes wide and her mouth agape. "Howdy," I said shyly. I really wasn't sure what to expect people's reactions of my new form to be. Especially since everyone thought I was dead. The doctor was clearly flabergasted by my sudden arrival.

"It... It..." Her mouth suddenly peeled back into a nervous smile. "Ohmygod it worked!" She rushed forward, suddenly anxious to check on me. "Ohmygod! I th-thought it had failed, like the last experiment, b-but you're here!" I had no idea what she was babbling about. Before I had time to duck below ground, she had both claws on me, pulling at my petals and face, running some analysis, though I wasn't sure what sort of medical procedure you could do for a plant. What was she talking about, an experiment?

Obviously, my father was just as confused as I was. "What are you talking about, Alphys?" he asked, taking a step forward. Dr. Alphys jolted back from me and stared wide-eyed at the king.

"O-oh! Um. Y-your m-majesty, I... Um..." She blushed a deep color of red. "I meant it to be. Um. Sort of a surprise?" She brought both claws up to her mouth and began to nervously nibble on the end of one unconsciously.

"You mean you're the one who did this?" The king's eyes were wide with shock.

"S-sort of? Yes?" She glanced back down at me before giving a little sqeak and facing him again, looking almost panicked. "I swear I didn't mean to! I mean. Well, about the, uh, being your son part! I mean. It was j-just using your flowers as an experiment! To put souls in! I, um, thought they would be better to absorb the monster souls with. But. I wasn't expecting..."

Before she could spew any more nonsense, the king had his arms wrapped around her. He was crying again. "Thank you," he rumbled. "Thank you for bringing my son back to me!"

"Y-your welcome...?" I had never seen the doctor turn a brighter shade of pink.

Dr. Alphys was the one who had brought me back? Dr. Alphys was the one who had put me into a flower? This was all Alphys's fault?! I had never really paid much mind to the quiet doctor before, but now I had someone to blame. It was my fault that I had died, yes, but it wasn't my fault I was a flower. I had to hang on to that thought, for my own sanity's sake. However she had done this, this was her fault. Not mine. She was the reason my body had been replaced with a stinking flower.

The king released Alphys from his hold and stood up straighter, towering high above me. "I can't wait until everyone hears the great news! Alphys, you're a miracle worker!"

"I am?" she seemed to be very uncomfortable with this idea.

"Now that Asriel's back, everyone is sure to be filled with more hope than before! We're one step closer to returning to the surface!" I looked down and sank an inch further into the ground. I felt like this was a major step backwards from where we had begun rather than a step forwards.

"It. It. Uh. Isn't technically, ah..." Alphys seemed to be thinking along the same lines as I was, but was too nervous to try to take away the king's optimism. "Well, I should check on Asriel, make sure he's, um, stable?" She turned to me and knelt down. "Asriel, how are you... Um... Feeling?"

I thought about telling the truth. Giving her a piece of my mind, letting her know how miserable I was, explaining to her how angry I felt about this unfair situation. But I knew that doing so wouldn't benefit any of us. She didn't really care about any of that anyway, she just wanted to know if I was dying or something like that.

"I'm OK, I guess." The lie slid easy from my tongue. "Whatever can be expected from finding out that you've been turned into a flower." That part was true at least. I gave her my best smile, a smile that I didn't really mean.

"I... Can't imagine..." She stared down at her hands for a second, her eyes creased with worry. "Can I... Um. Pick you up?" My father peered over her shoulder at me, looking more puzzled than anything else. A usual look for him.

"Fine," I consented reluctantly. As gently as she could, she lifted me into the air. I felt totally and utterly helpless, completely at her mercy. She examined my roots, peering closely at every inch of plant matter, poking at this, prodding at that. I felt more like a lab rat than a person. Occasionally, she would mutter apologies under her breath, asking if this hurt or if I could feel that.

"Odd..." she murmured. "It seems that somehow this body of yours has created magic of your own, like what any monster has." She fished in her pocket and took out a little metal device with a needle on the end of it and inserted it into my stem. I wriggled at the pain and she apologized again, eyes glued to the panel on the side of the device. "Still no soul. Huh." She removed the needle and stuffed it back into her pocket. "You're not, uh, feeling like you're going to melt... O-or anything like that, are you?"

That was a strangely specific question. "No," I assured. She looked relieved and set me back down. I instantly squirmed back into the safety of the dirt. Dr. Alphys stood back up and began to scratch her head. She was muttering something under her breath, but she was too quiet for me to make out what she was saying. The moment only lasted a second before she noticed my concerned gaze and bit her lip.

"Ah, um. You're probably worn out. You sh-should go home and get some rest." She glanced at the king and he pounced on the idea, scooping me into his arms. He seemed happy to finally have someone telling him what to do again. He carried me through the hallways of the castle-like building until we reached the more modern form of our house. My room looked practically untouched, though there was more dust than normal layering everything. I glanced at the bed that belonged to Chara and quickly looked away.

Dad set me on my bed and drew the covers around me as best as he could. "Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked, giving me a gentle pat. I shook my head. I couldn't bring myself to ask for a patch of dirt to sit in. The bed felt so heavy and confining. I could only barely move. It was in sheer defiance of my flower form that I contented myself to lay in my old bed.

My father gave me one last pat on the cheek before leaving the room, flicking the light off as he left. I lay there, staring at the ceiling. Strangely, I did feel tired. I hadn't been awake for all that long, but I felt totally drained. It still took me a while before I finally drifted off to sleep, though, and when I did, I had nightmares. Nightmares of dying and waking up as a flower, alone and unable to move. Nightmares of standing amidst a sea of blood and dust knowing that I was the one responsible for it.

 _"No one deserves to live anymore. Humans... Monsters... They're all the same. Useless. Everyone should just die."_

Minutes flowed into hours, hours flowed into days, days flowed into weeks. I quickly found that there wasn't very much I could do as a flower. It had been so long since the king had a child to take care of that he really wasn't sure what to do with me most of the time. I tried to press him for more information about why Mom had left, but I only got vague responses from him. Truly, he seemed lost without her, spending most of his time gardening.

It was while sitting with him during one such afternoon of tending to plants that I discovered another magic ability this form had to offer. Plant manipulation. I could connect to any of the plants next to me and move them. The king was shocked when all the weeds in his garden suddenly uprooted themselves before his eyes. Vines seemed to be the most useful plant to maneuver since they acted as an extension of my arms and were able to reach much further than my spindly leaves. I could also use them as ropes, tying things together or lifting me to surfaces that were otherwise too tall for me.

I had hoped to be able to talk to Dr. Alphys to figure out what other abilities I might have and what she had done to me, but since that first day, the doctor had locked herself in her lab and refused to come out for any reason. Even my father seemed troubled by her lack of appearance. He tried calling her a few times, but she wasn't answering her phone.

Life became very boring. I was growing fairly adept at maneuvering as a flower, finding that I could duck below solid floors just as easily as I could dirt, but being able to move around was a short-lived triumph since there wasn't really anywhere I needed to go. The monsters seemed to be happy that I was back, but that was as far as that went. A few asked me about the surface world and what it was like, but talking about it only brought back bad memories. A long time had passed between my death and rebirth it seemed, and monsters had moved on with their lives after my passing. Now that I was back, they really weren't entirely sure what to do with me.

On the flip side, I wasn't really entirely sure what to do with them, either. It took me a while to figure out that there was something wrong with my feelings. It used to be that I had dismissed my father's simple-mindedness because I knew that I still loved him anyways. That feeling was gone. Love. The king's stupidity drove me insane most of the time and it became harder and harder for me to care about his feelings. The same applied to all the other monsters, even the ones I had once been friends with. They each had their little quirks and I found them to be more irritating than anything else.

When I finally narrowed down what was missing in my life, it became my goal to retrieve it. More than anything, I wanted to find someone that I could love. Chara was gone, Mom had left. I tried regaining the love for my father for a time, spending several days riding on his shoulder as he bustled around the kingdom. He certainly seemed to enjoy my company, but the more time I spent with the fool the less I enjoyed his. I could not find any redeeming qualities about the bumbling old goat.

I thought about using my ability to phase through solid rock to go pester Dr. Alphys, but the more I thought about her, the more enraged I became. I still blamed her for this whole mess and she was too much of a coward to even face up to what she had done. If I ever saw that nasty lizard face of hers again, I would probably end up yelling at her, which would accomplish nothing for either of us.

What I really needed was to find my mother. With Chara gone, she was the only person left that was sure to help me. I knew that when the king discovered me missing, he would be heart-broken, but I decided that I didn't really care. I didn't bother leaving a note. With no remorse, I burrowed into the soil and left new home to begin my search of the underground.

 _"Chara, do you have any regrets? Anything you wish you hadn't done?"_

 _"..."_

 _"You might as well tell me. We're dying anyway."_

 _"... I regret caring about anyone."_

 _"That's harsh! What about me?! Do you regret caring about me?"_

 _"..."_

It didn't take me particularly long to find my mother. It only made sense that she would return to our original home, now dubbed the ruins by most folk simply because it was generally seen as abandoned. The door was firmly sealed shut making access a problem for most monsters, but it was a cinch for me to slip under it.

I found her in the living room reading a book. It was one of her favorite pasttimes. She didn't notice me right away when I popped up through the floor. I was actually a little bit hesitant to speak at first. Would she recognize me? How would she react? I was also waiting for the pangs of love or affection to shoot through me at the sight of her, but as I gazed at her serene face, I felt nothing.

"Mom?" I asked tentatively. She jumped a little at the unexpected sound and looked down at me, blinking a few times. Without looking, she bookmarked the page she was reading and set the book aside, leaning forward in her chair.

"Yes, my child? How may I assist you?" I took a deep breath.

"Mom, it's me. It's Asriel."

She blinked hard. Then her surprise shifted into distrust, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "Where did you hear that name?" A corner of her lips twitched into the slightest of a smile. "It's not nice to play with a poor old lady's heart like that."

"Mom! I'm not kidding! Please!" How could I prove that I was Asriel? The weight of my lonliness forced tears to my eyes. I was always such a crybaby. I looked at the floor, ashamed of my tears. "I know I died. The last thing I remember, I had just come back from the surface world. I still... I still had Chara's body in my hands. And then, I turned to dust." My crying was only getting worse. "The next thing I knew, I was a flower. I came looking for you. And so, here I am."

A hand fell lightly on my head, carressing one of my petals. "My child... Is it really you? Tell me. Tell me all you know." And so I did. I told her about what had happened on the surface, how I had been attacked by the humans, how I had chosen to do nothing. I told her of waking up as a flower, of trying to live life with Asgore. Of Alphys's strange reaction to me. I told her I was afraid. I told her I was alone. I told her everything. And at the end of it, I didn't feel one bit better about it.

"Oh my child," Toriel murmered. She gently lifted me up into her lap, cradeling me as though I were a newborn kid. "Such a tale of sorrow and grief. To think such a fate could befall my beloved child." I pulled closer to her, letting all of my despair pour out. The front of Mom's dress was becoming wet with my tears, but she didn't seem to mind. She was so much more comforting and knowing than my father. Rather than denying my grief, she accepted it, and chose to mourn with me rather than make light of the situation.

I lay there until my sobs eased into sniffles. When my tears had almost dried, my mother spoke softly to me again. "I am proud of you, my child," she whispered. I lifted my head to gaze up at her face, my eyes still stinging from crying so much.

"Proud? How come?"

"I am proud of you for remaining strong. You displayed a great deal of patience, enduring through hardships that no child should be forced to endure. What is more is you did no harm to those who hurt you. That takes more strength and courage than those who choose to fight."

I looked down, my heart heavy. "I don't feel very strong."

"Shhhh. None of us do, my child. But that does not make it any less true."

"But... If it weren't for me... If I had just been strong enough to bring myself to fight back... I wouldn't have died... I wouldn't be here..."

"And yet I am all the more glad to hear that you chose not to fight." She nuzzled me, letting her soft cheek press against mine. "I am glad that you have returned to me this way, my child. I know that what you have faced was difficult, but sometimes it is better to find joy in the simple blessings life has offered to you. Do you understand, my child?"

What did she know? She hadn't been through this. She didn't know what it was like. She wasn't the one who was stuck as a flower for the rest of eternity. "No. I don't understand." My voice went hard, regaining some of the anger I felt leaking back in.

"Well, one day you will, my child. For now, you may take comfort that I am here for you. I am here and I always will be."

My heart grew cold and bitter, knotting up in my chest until I felt like I was choking.

"Then why did you leave us? Why did you leave Dad? Why did you leave me all alone?"

She stiffened around me. I could tell that what I had said hurt. After pausing for a time, she spoke in stoic distaste. "Your father, King Asgore, has done some terrible things." Her voice was hard with barely-restrained anger. "He was not as strong as you, my child. When you... When you died, he decided to fight back. He swore to kill any human who would ever come here again and collect their souls so he can break the barrier and destroy the whole of humanity." She gripped me tightly. "Terrible, is it not? We are creatures of love and compassion, but Asgore has forsaken this for the sake of revenge. Already, he has murdered six humans in cold blood."

I bit my lip. Chara. That was what Chara had wanted to do. That was why we had gone through with the plan in the first place. To gather seven human souls and to break the barrier. And I wasn't strong enough to do it. Well, I wouldn't make that mistake again. Mom was wrong. It was for the greater good, for the benefit of all monsters. The only thing she was right about was Dad. The king was too weak for the task. He should have done what Chara and I had tried to do: take one soul and use that power to gather the rest. He truly was too weak to properly follow through with the commitment he had made. No. Someone else needed to finish the job.

Honestly, I was a little surprised to hear that he had already managed to collect six human souls. He hadn't said squat about it to me. That idiot was far too daft to be able to do much of anything. My thoughts were interrupted as Toriel continued speaking.

"I am sorry if I caused you any grief by not being there for you when you first awoke, my child. Had I known that you would be returned in such a state, I would not have left you to be with that horrible creature. I promise you that from now on I will always take care of you."

I closed my eyes. I'm sure you will, Mom. I'm sure you will.

 _"You failed me..."_

 _"I'm sorry, Chara. It won't happen again."_

 _"Bacause of you, there will never be an again!"_

 _"No. You're wrong. This time I'll prove it to you."_

"Asriel! Oh, goodness! Be careful with that!"

I jumped at the sound of Toriel's voice and nearly dropped the jar of cookies on my head as my control of the vines I was using to lower it slipped. I barely managed to tighten my grip on the vines before the whole thing crashed to the ground. Unfortunately, I wasn't entirely quick enough and the jar's lid slid off and shattered on the kitchen floor next to me. My mom rushed in, grabbed the jar from my hold and replaced it on the counter.

"If you had wanted one, you should have asked me," Mother chided, grabbing a cookie from the jar and handing it to me. I glowered at her. "I'm sorry, my child, it was irrisponsible for me to leave you alone for so long. It seems you are not ready for that, yet."

"I'm not made of glass, you know. I'm not going to break."

"No," she affirmed, "You're more of a delicate flower." She giggled at her own pun, grinning to herself like a little girl.

I glared at her, willing with all my heart that I still had my fire magic so I could make her fur burst into flames. "Where were you, anyway?" I demanded. "You were gone for hours! It doesn't take that long to walk around the ruins."

She gave me a warm, apologetic smile. "Ah, I am sorry, my child. I was... Preoccupied..." She giggled to herself again as though remembering something really funny. If there was a joke there, I apparently missed it. "You need not worry about the excursions of this old lady. I will go ahead and clean this up. It is nearly time for your math lesson!" She bustled about, grabbing a hand broom and sweeping up the shards of the broken lid.

With a sigh, I popped the cookie in my mouth and ducked below ground, resurfacing in the living room where Toriel liked to pretend to be a teacher. Since I had come to the ruins, my mother wouldn't stop... Well... Mothering me. She hardly let me out of her sight for any reason at all. She had cried out the first time I had gone below ground to move to a new location. It was like she was afraid that the moment she couldn't see me, humans would pop out and rip me to shreds. It had been a blessed relief when she had gone for a walk through the ruins, a practice which she stated was normally a daily thing for her. I simply hadn't known exactly how long it would take her and had gotten bored sitting at home with nothing to do.

After she was done cleaning the kitchen, she sat in her usual chair and began listing off math problems and equations and how to solve them. I sat through her lesson with as little comment as I could get away with, tuning her out when she would start rambling about 'fun' math facts.

It was distressing when I had noted just how annoyed I was becoming with Toriel. I had come all the way to the ruins seeking out this woman because I had hoped that I would finally find someone that I could love. All my efforts were wasted. I felt nothing for her. Nothing but frustration. She wasn't a fool like Asgore, but she still had idiotic tendencies, like thinking that she was being a good teacher while not letting me problem solve or find answers for myself. And while Asgore hadn't known what to do with me, it seemed like Toriel had the opposite problem, trying to run my life like it was her personal responsibility to do so. No wonder she and Asgore had gotten along so well. No doubt Asgore just let Toriel do all the work for him since he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

Sticking around this place proved to be a huge waste of my time. It was even worse than being in the castle where at least I had free roam of the place and could practice using my new flower powers. Toriel had me on such a short leash here, afraid I was going to hurt myself or something idiotic like that. I felt trapped.

Part of the problem was that I couldn't think of where to go. Toriel had really been my last hope. I didn't want to be with Asgore or Toriel anymore. If I went back to the underground, the royal guard would no doubt find me and bring me back to Asgore. There wasn't anything for me to do, nowhere to go. I couldn't even get past the barrier any more. I really was trapped.

That night, when Toriel went to bed, I left. I didn't go anywhere in particular, I just wanted to get out of the ruins. I made my way over to waterfall and found the place where the garbage from the human world collected. I stopped when I caught sight of another patch of golden flowers growing in a spot that seemed particularly out of place. In the other locations, there was dirt to grow in and enough light from the surface to allow the flowers to grow, but here it was dark and wet.

I poked my head up amidst the rest of the flowers, using my magic to shove a few out of the way to give myself enough room. This seemed like a fitting place. A place filled with garbage where impossible flowers still managed to grow anyway. It felt like a symbol of what my own life had become. And just like these flowers, I was useless to do anything about the trash all around me.

Why had I been brought back to life? It wasn't like I could actually do anything. I had already failed everyone once before. I let myself sink into the cool water, leaning back so I could stare at the distant crystals glowing in the cave ceiling, a poor imitation of the stars on the surface. I considered getting back up and going underground again, but what was the point? Where would I go? What would I do? No. There was no point anymore.

I closed my eyes, easing my whole body until it was entirely relaxed, swaying to the gentle pull of the river. So easy. To lie here and do nothing. Forever. It wouldn't make a difference, whether I moved or not, whether I lived or not. There wasn't anywhere to go, no one to care for, no big difference that little Asriel Dreemurr turned flower could make. The world had watched me die once before and it seemed to have gotten along just fine without me. It could do the same again.

As the will to live drained out of me, a familiar feeling filled my body. The feeling that came right before turning to dust. I had already died once. I could die again. Just let go. Then I would never have to move again. I would never have to hurt again. I would never have to care again.

I lay there for hours, contemplating my own existence. I hated being a flower. There really wasn't anything I could do anymore. And no one could help me. I couldn't even find it in myself to love anyone. There really was nothing left. This hopelessness... It seemed to fill every inch of my soulless husk of a flower. There was nothing left for me. Nothing to do but rot and drift away along with the rest of the junk that flowed through the underground.

My consciousness eased into the gentle void. I felt the fabric of what held my body together begin to waver and I didn't care. I felt nothing. I thought nothing. I was nothing.

"I promise you, Chara. I will do everything I can. I will work hard. We will save everyone."

Even as the first particles of dust flowed away from my dissolving body, a primieval instinct shouted out from my core. No! I couldn't die here! Not like this! I CAN NOT DIE! I WILL NOT FAIL AGAIN! NOOOOOOOOOO!

I

AM

DETERMINED!

Everything faded to white.


	2. Reset 1: Determination

" _Hey, Chara, what's it like in the human world? Up on the surface? Is it beautiful?"_

" _..."_

" _Oh, come on, don't give me that look! It can't be that bad, can it?"_

" _It's not as great as you may think, Asriel."_

" _Well, it's gotta be better than being stuck down here."_

" _... Maybe..."_

I squinted my eyes against the sunlight that brushed across my face. It was such a contrast from the darkness I had just left. Gradually, the white spots that covered my vision faded and I could make out my surroundings. Golden flowers. A great throne stood tall in the midst of the sea of yellow. I was back in the throne room? I looked down at myself. Still a flower. Dang.

How in the world had I gotten all the way back to the throne room? And... Was it my imagination, or had I just nearly willed myself to die?! That was most certainly new. Apparently this body was more frail than I had originally thought if losing the desire to live was enough to make me crumble into dust. And it still didn't explain how I had gotten here.

Rehearsing the last events in my memory, I tried to piece together what happened. I was dying, and then I was back here... Maybe Alphys somehow brought me back to life again? Stuck me into a new flower body? How had they found me, though? I was turning into dust in a river that emptied into a void. There really was no way I could possibly be existing.

Thinking about it didn't seem to be resulting in any clear answers. If anyone knew what was going on, though, it had to be Dr. Alphys. As much as I hated her guts, I needed answers, and she was the one who had them. Besides, I had been meaning to corner her and demand to know what had happened to me in the first place, how she had managed to stuff me into a flower and bring me back to life a month ago.

I plunged into the dark soil and swam my way through the castle, sticking close to familiar corridors just to make sure I knew where I was going. I spotted the king watering some of the flowers inside of New Home and chose to avoid him. I'd rather not have to explain why I had suddenly run off. Eventually, I made it to the lab in the middle of the hotlands. Alphys was sitting at her computer, watching some sort of cartoon.

I pulled myself through the tiles of her lab directly at her feet. "Howdy, Alphys!" It was strangely satisfying watching her scream at the top of her lungs, flail, and fall over backwards out of her chair.

"Wh-wh-what?! D-don't s-scare me like th-that! How did you...?" She untangled herself from her overturned computer chair and gaped at me. "A... A f-flower?"

I narrowed my eyes at the lizard woman. "What, don't tell me you forgot about me already?" She worked her mouth for a second, trying to formulate words that weren't successfully coming out.

"I-is it r-really... Are y-you the flower I... Erm... I mean... Um... A-are you the t-test s-subject? How are you, uh... W-well... Living?"

"Funny, I was just about to ask you that," I stated wryly. "What did you do to me? What test were you doing? Why am I not dead?" The doctor nervously picked herself up off the ground and set the chair upright again before wandering over to me. She clicked her claws together, her eyebrows knotting up in deep thought.

"I in-injected... I f-filled you w-with determination."

"With what?!"

"D-determination. That's... eh..." She scratched her head for a moment, a shy smile pulling at her mouth. "It's what I call the stuff that makes a human soul live... A-after the body d-dies I mean. Uh..." Her head slumped even more than usual. "I d-didn't expect it t-to make you a sentient being! I swear! Uh..."

"Wait. So you weren't trying to bring me back to life?" I was confused.

"B-back...? You mean you... Were alive before?" Now we were both confused. Great.

"Uh... Hello? I know it's been like a month, but you've been hiding from me ever since. You can't seriously tell me that you forgot about the fact that you brought the king's son back from the dead!" Alphys gaped at me again.

"W-what?!"

Despite all odds, it seemed as though Alphys had completely forgotten about our encounter when I had first woken up as a flower. The befuddled look she gave was pretty funny-looking on her reptilian features, almost silly enough to make me bust out laughing. I might have laughed if I wasn't pissed off at her.

Suddenly her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean I've been h-hiding from you? I only put you back in the garden yesterday..."

"You mean after you found me dying, or whatever you did?"

"What? N-no! You were never dying! You were never r-really alive! I grabbed a flower from the King's garden in the throne room, stuffed it full of raw determination and n-nothing happened, so I put you back! End of st-story!" Her expression shifted from anger to concern. "Er... Well... so I had thought?"

Things were really not adding up here. I was pretty sure that my face was almost an exact mirror of the confused look the doctor had so recently worn. Clearly, accusations were not helping, and somehow the information I knew was not matching up with what Dr. Alphys knew. I was going to have to try a different line of questioning.

"Alphys, what does determination do?"

"Uhhhhh..." She looked very uncomfortable about that question. "I'm... Not... Really sure? Th-that what all the experiments were for..."

Ooookay... Very helpful. Not! "So you injected a bunch of it into a flower. Why?"

"I-it was supposed to be a surprise for King Asgore!" I did recall her saying something like that before. "I needed s-something to put the monster souls into, since monsters can't absorb the souls of other m-monsters. I thought it might be k-kinda cool to use the king's f-favorite flowers... As a present... I guess..." She took a seat in the chair, leaning forward so her elbows rested on her knees. "What did you mean about b-bringing King Asgore's son b-back to life? Y-you're not... Are you...?"

I took a dramatic bow, bending so low that the petals on the top of my head brushed against the ground. "Prince Asriel, at your service!" I straightened and planted my fists on my stem. "Now I would really like to know what happened to me and why the heck I'm a flower."

To my great surprise, the doctor suddenly fainted, toppling from her chair for the second time that day and nearly smooshing me on the way down.

" _How's this? Tell me your favorite part of being on the surface."_

" _Hm... I'd have to say the flowers."_

" _Flowers?! We've got flowers down here!"_

" _Not like what's up there. In the spring, they'd cover the hillsides. It looked like paint, there were so many colors."_

" _Wow! Sounds beautiful!"_

" _It was..."_

The table I was lying on was very uncomfortable and the giant machine above me was doing nothing to calm my anxieties. Dr. Alphys fidgeted nearby, sorting through containers, tools, and other scary looking medical equipment. Having my roots fully exposed to the air and not tucked away safely in the dirt made me feel vulnerable. The sooner I could get off this thing, the better. At last she wandered over to a computer monitor that was hooked up to the machine looming over my head.

"O-OK, Asriel. I'm starting the sc-scan now. Hold still. This should only take a s-second." The machine hummed to life. I eyed it warily, but didn't actually feel anything. "Done!" The doctor had a determined look on her face as she poked at the screen, reading whatever data had started to appear.

Honestly, I had not previously known that this portion of the lab even existed. The place seemed a lot older and more run-down than Alphys's shiny lab upstairs. It was probably left from the previous royal scientist and Alphys had simply inherited access to it along with the job. The doctor insisted that she bring me to this place so she could run some proper tests.

I neglected to mention to her that she had already run a few tests on me when I had first appeared as a flower, but only because she seemed to have zero recollection of the event ever happening. I decided that trying to bring it up would only delay getting the answers I needed. It would be best to find out what she knew first before pointing out to her what she didn't seem to know.

Dr. Alphys stuck her thumbnail in her mouth and gnawed on it unconsciously. "Huh. Weird," she muttered. I did my best to sit up so as to get a better look at the monitor, though it was faced mostly away from me. "It seems, uh, you no longer have the ph-physical properties of a plant anymore. You're like... An in-between thing? Like, you're a flower, but you're also a monster..."

"How does that work?"

"I'm not actually sure... You're mostly a plant, with the, uh, mostly m-made of water thing... A-and you probably still need sunlight and n-nutrients to survive because of photosynthesis and stuff... But you're also made of magic?"

I frowned, a bit confused by what she was talking about. I knew that monsters were made mostly of magic and so had just assumed that plants were the same. I didn't really know that much about what a plant was made of or any sciency stuff like that.

"T-technically what you are is impossible," the doctor stated, shuffling her feet a bit. "I'm pretty sure that the only reason y-you're still living is b-because of the determination. A-and I'm still not even sure how or why you're Asriel... My only theory is that because the flowers grew from your... uh... dust... that somehow your essence got put into the flowers?" She really did not look confident in that explanation, but it made a sort of sense.

"Ok. So I'm a flower that grew with me in it, then when you filled it with determination it somehow fused me with the flower?" Her look was pitifully uncertain and she gave a halfhearted shrug.

"Again, this i-is all just g-guess work at this point! I really wasn't expecting anything l-like this to happen! I mean, y-you don't even have a soul or anything... I thought at best I'd end up with a hard-to-kill flower. At worst, it w-would melt..." Again with the melting thing. What was that all about?

"Why would you be worried about me melting?"

"N-no reason! Y-you d-don't need t-to worry about that! I just checked you to m-make sure! Y-you've got enough ph-physical m-matter to hold the determination w-without... Without... Uh... Melting..."

That didn't sound very reassuring.

"Did other things melt when you stuffed it full of this determination stuff?" The doctor didn't respond for a while, her expression alternating between fear and embarrassment. She took a deep breath and let it all out.

"I first tried injecting th-the determination into m-monsters... A-and it worked for a little while, but... I guess their bodies didn't take too well to it, and... They... M-melted..."

"And you're absolutely sure that's not going to happen to me, right?"

Abruptly she shed her uncertainty and gave a stiff, solid nod. "Yes. I am positive that you are going to be just fine." Then her body slumped again and all her nervousness was back. "B-besides... If y-you were going to melt, you would have done so by now." Good to know.

"So what kinds of things can I do in this body? You said I still have magic, right?" No need to tell her that I had already discovered my fair share of magic abilities that came with being a flower.

"Uhh. I don't know... I guess w-we should probably find out... Let me run a few more tests on you... Try, uh, casting fire magic. Like what you used to do."

Sure thing, doc. I focused in my mind what used to enable my fire magic. A small pellet of energy appeared in the air, glowing faintly before vanishing in a puff of smoke. I tried again. The pellet came back and I made sure to keep my magic flowing into it to keep it from vanishing. Then I summoned another one. Then another. I tried mentally forcing the tiny dots to burst into flames, but that only made them all fizzle and vanish. I sighed. That seemed to be the extent of my old powers.

Dr. Alphys watched the entire display with keen interest. When the pellets finally disappeared, she let out a little humph. I glared at her. Her eyes went wide when she noted my sour expression and she immediately began apologizing.

"I'm sorry! I guess I sh-should have expected something like this. B-because you have less magic than you should, it seems that your fire magic doesn't r-really work anymore. S-so. Um... But I'm sure you probably have other things to m-make up for it. More, uh, plant like things? Like... Um... The ability to... Um... Grow?"

Way to go. I already discovered that much on my own. It seemed as though Alphys wouldn't be much help in regards to what I could or could not do as a flower. I faced the wall, abruptly feeling very discouraged.

"Hey, Alphys?"

"Y-yes, Asriel?"

"What did you mean about me not having a soul?"

A long pause followed. When she did speak, her voice went soft. "Well, th-that's just the thing... Y-you really shouldn't be alive... Because every living things needs to have a soul in order to function. But... You... um... Don't... You somehow kept your sense of self as Asriel, but you don't actually have a soul anymore."

I looked down at my leaves, curling them and uncurling them. "Does that mean I'm not actually Asriel? I just have the memories of being Asriel?"

"Um... I... I wouldn't say that... I-I mean, you can st-still be Asriel without having a soul. Y-you're kind of an anomaly... Nothing like you h-has ever really existed before... So who am I to s-say what you are or what you aren't? Y-you still feel like Asriel, right?"

I thought of how distant I felt from my old family and friends. I thought of how short-tempered I had become, quick to find fault in others. I thought of my new body and all of the changes that came with it. My magic wasn't the same, my personality wasn't the same... No. I didn't feel like Asriel anymore. Who I was, the monster I used to be, was dead. All these memories that filled my brain meant nothing anymore. Asriel died all those years ago in that throne room. What I had become was no longer the son of a king. I was a flower. A flower with memories of being a prince.

Alphys coughed awkwardly behind me. "A-anyway, I don't really know what else I can do for you... Uh... It's really hard to, uh, know anything about you. So. Um. I guess you keep, uh, living... And come back to me if anything weird happens?"

I didn't respond. Dr. Alphys was just another dead-end. No wonder she had hid in her lab before. She was avoiding me because she hadn't wanted to admit to me or the king that she didn't have any clue what I was much less how to help me. I wasn't even created on purpose. It was a freak accident. That just made this all the worse. This doctor was useless.

"I'll... Uh... Be upstairs if you need me." I heard her claws click across the floor as she hastily left. Finally, I was alone to my thoughts.

It seemed as though I would have to get used to being a flower. Maybe I was Asriel, maybe I wasn't. It didn't really matter. All that mattered was determining a course of action. I already knew from experience that the moment I lost my determination, I would dissolve into dust, so I couldn't let that happen. But what could I do? How could I stay determined?

My mind immediately latched onto the thought of the six human souls that King Asgore had collected. Asriel or not, that was my goal. That was what Chara and I had planned all those years ago. Collect enough souls to break the barrier and free monster-kind from this hellish place. I could do it this time. I could get the souls from Asgore, return to the surface and gather one more, and then I could free everyone. That was my purpose. My goal. That was how I could keep my determination.

" _Oh man! I can't wait until the barrier is broken! Then I could go with you to see those flowers!"_

" _... Do you really want to go to the surface?"_

" _Haha, are you kidding?! Of course I do! Everyone does!"_

" _I think I figured out how we can do it..."_

The King was minding his own business trying a new recipe in the kitchen when I popped up beside him. Like with Toriel, I suddenly found myself hesitant, my confidence draining when my brain pulled a blank for what to say. I knew I needed to bring up the six souls that he had, but how would I do that without making him suspicious? And how was I going to explain why I left? Would I tell him about Mom? Because of my delay, Asgore noticed me before I could say anything and his expression turned to one of faint surprise.

"Hello there," he rumbled, "How did you get in here?" That was a lot calmer of an answer than I had expected considering my abrupt disappearance before.

"Through the floor," I stated, not sure what else to say.

"Huh. An interesting ability. Can I get you some tea?" Definitely very calm. Suspiciously so, actually. Hello, son, just came down for breakfast. How's it going? Where've you been for the past couple of weeks? With Mom? Well, that's cool. Have some tea. I sighed.

"I... Need to talk to you..."

"Oh? About what? Have I seen you before? You look vaguely familiar."

What?

Everything that I had been about to say suddenly flew out of my mind. Did he seriously not remember? Having your son come back from the dead wasn't something one simply forgot. Especially not in only a few short weeks. What in the world?

"Uh..."

The timer on the top of the stove took that opportunity to go off, blaring with a shrieking wail. "Oh!" The king reached over and turned it off. He donned some oven mitts and pulled a pie tin out of the oven, setting it on the stove to cool.

"Sorry about that," Asgore said in a far-too-cheery tone. "If you stay for a while, this will be cool enough to eat. Come, we can sit at the table." He strode out of the kitchen and seated himself at the far end of the dining table. I ducked below ground and swam over to one of the empty chairs. I was getting much better at moving and I was able to pull my roots from the ground and use them to pull myself up into the chair. It was weird using my feet to climb with rather than my hands, but then again, there were a lot of weird things about my new body.

"Now, what is it you wanted, my little flowery friend?" The King folded his hands on the table in front of him, appearing very business-like. Even standing at full height on the chair, my head only just barely came above the edge of the table. I felt very small and pathetic. Hardly the appearance I wanted for this particular conversation, but it was really hard to look strong as a flower.

"I want to see the six souls you have," I stated bluntly. When in doubt, just get straight to the point. That way I wouldn't have to deal with any more mindless gibbering from Asgore than was totally necessary. It was incredibly odd that he didn't seem to know who I was, but I decided to take that as a blessing rather than a curse right at the moment. It meant that I didn't have to try and explain everything to his simple little mind.

Then I saw his face.

The look on Asgore's face was not a pleasant one. His eyes were hooded, his expression stern. I couldn't remember a time seeing him so dark. It wasn't cheerful, it wasn't naive, it wasn't anything he usually was. For the first time, I could visualize him killing the humans, collecting their souls one by one. This was a side to my father that I had never seen before.

"Those souls are not something to be taken lightly," Asgore stated coldly. "What do you want with them?"

"I... I want to break the barrier."

"As does every monster. But I have six souls. I need one more."

"What if I told you that we don't need all seven right now? If I can get to the surface, I can collect however many human souls you want." Those words. They weren't mine. They were Chara's. It was what Chara had told me all those years ago.

"A fine idea. But I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to do that."

"What?"

"I have worked too hard to collect those souls to risk losing them. Surely you must understand."

I scowled, baring my teeth at him. "How stupid can you get?!" I demanded. "You already have everything you need to break the barrier! Why would you pass up an opportunity like this?!"

The King slammed both palms on the table, standing over me. "I will not be mocked, especially not in my own home!"

My eyes went wide and I cowered in my chair. I had never heard my father raise his voice like this. Never. His eyes were tight slits on his face, his looming form radiating power and dominance.

"Now, I have explained to you that I cannot allow you to do as you wish. My answer is final. You may now leave." It wasn't a suggestion. I hopped from the chair and fled into the ground.

That had not gone according to plan at all.

" _You want to take my soul?!"_

" _What other choice do we have, Asriel? Only the combined souls of a monster and a human can pass through the barrier."_

" _But... But... I... I don't want to die. I want to stay with you. Forever."_

" _You will, Asriel. I promise."_

I really wasn't sure what to do or where to go next. I didn't want to go to waterfall. Being that close to the garbage dump where I had nearly let myself die didn't sound like a good idea. Hotland didn't seem particularly appealing either since I was pretty sure that plants were flammable. So instead I went to the little village of Snowdin. Not wanting to hang out in the cold snow, I entered the local diner and relaxed in a corner of the room, completely unnoticed by everyone else there. It was a good place to stop and think about what to do for a while.

My goal was to figure out how to break the barrier, but without those human souls, that plan was pretty well out of reach. What disturbed me most was the rage my father had shown. Eerily, I thought of the words my mother had spoken about how my father had thrown away his compassion. It made me shiver. Had my death really changed my father that much? He seemed normal when I had first seen him, but he had known I was Asriel then.

That brought up the other thought that was worrying me. Both he and Dr. Alphys had completely forgotten who I was. I could no longer deny that fact. Somehow everyone's memories had been erased. Of course, the only way to confirm that would be to try and talk to Toriel, but I really didn't want to face her if my hypothesis turned out to be false.

When had the memory wipe happened? The only thing I could think of was the moment when I had died in waterfall. It seemed really strange to me that rather than ending up a pile of dust being swept down the river, I had instead awoken in the throne room again. And since then, it seemed that no one remembered who I was. It was almost like... Time had reset or something. But that couldn't be. I had never heard of any time magic before.

Dr. Alphys's voice echoed through my head as I tried to recall exactly what she had said about my new form and that determination stuff. Determination. The stuff that's found in a human soul that allows it to continue existing even when the human had died. That just made me think of Chara. She had certainly been determined. She had been so determined to free all monsters that she was willing to sacrifice her own body for it. I slumped against the back wall. I had let her do it, too. It was my fault she was dead now. Just as it was my fault I had died. Twice now.

Determination. The force so powerful that it allows a being to resist death. What if...? Was that the reason no one remembered me and I was somehow still alive? I had been so determined not only to live, but to be in a position to try again. Had that somehow warped me back in time? That seemed odd, but stranger things had happened. Technically my own existence was impossible, according to Dr. Alphys, so who's to say I couldn't go back in time, too? I only wished that I had been brought back further in time, to before I was a flower. Before I got myself killed. That was what I really wanted to do. Go back and make sure it never happened again.

Apparently, I could only go back to as far as when I had been jammed full of determination. I guess that made sense if it was the determination itself that was allowing me to defy the laws of time.

My thoughts were interrupted when the noise level in the crowded room suddenly elevated. I looked up and peeked around the table I was hiding behind to look at what was going on. It seemed that someone had entered and everyone was calling out to him in greeting. Must be a popular guy. What caught my attention was how human he looked. Two arms, two feet, no fins or feathers, he even seemed to be about the same height Chara had been, though it was really hard to tell since my perception of size had been drastically altered. The only odd thing was that his skin was white and smooth, almost like it was made of porcelain. It was only when he turned in my direction that I caught sight of his empty eye sockets and perpetually grinning teeth. A skeleton. Huh.

I had never seen this guy before, but it had been a long time since I died and I wasn't very good at remembering every monster anyway, especially when they lived in a remote spot like Snowdin. I retreated to my corner again, tuning out the noise. The skeleton was chatting nonchalantly to everyone and apparently what he said was really funny because the whole room continually erupted with laughter. Great. They couldn't just leave me to peacefully enjoy my corner in silence, now could they? Thankfully the volume lowered when the newcomer took a seat at the bar and began to order food.

My thoughts returned to trying to come up with a way to get the human souls from Asgore. I couldn't introduce myself as Asriel again since it was highly unlikely that he would believe me this time. I could maybe get Alphys to vouch for me, but even then, there was no way I could convince the King to let me do anything now that I had angered him. No, somehow I had royally screwed up. But if I was right about being able to reset everything, then maybe I could go back and try to not call Asgore an idiot this time. That would mean that Alphys would forget about me again, but who cared about her? She wasn't much use for anything anyway. Now if only I could figure out how to restart time. I wasn't sure how I had done it before, if that was even what I had done. My theory still remained unproved.

"Heya, little buddy. You didn't even peep when I walked in. Don'tcha know it's rude to not introduce yourself when you're new in town?" I sat up straight at the sudden voice right next to me. The skeleton was kneeling on the ground beside my table, peering at me with dim lights shining from the empty slots where his eyes should be. I hadn't even heard him get up from his bar stool. How in the world had he noticed me?

"Who are you talking to, Sans?" One of the dogs at the adjacent table was leaning backwards to get a better look at my corner.

"Uhh..." I mumbled, caught off guard from suddenly becoming the center of attention.

"Hey, that looks like one of King Asgore's flowers!" This came from a sickly-looking rabbit across the room from me who was using their table as a pillow.

The skeleton walked around the table I had been hiding under and slumped down on the floor against the wall next to me. "Don't mind em," he said gesturing to the diner's other inhabitants. "They're all pretty chummy once you get to know them." He gave me a wink as if he was trying to reassure me or something. It wasn't working. "So what's your name, kid?" I scowled at him. What right did he have, bothering me?

When I didn't respond, he chuckled to himself. "Not saying, huh? Well, then how 'bout I call you Flowey then? Y'know. Cuz you're a flower."

"That's the dumbest name I've ever heard," I spat.

"Well, if you don't want me to use it, then you should just tell me your real name." I huffed in irritation. I couldn't very well go around telling everyone that I was Asriel back from the dead. I didn't have to explain myself to a bunch of strangers anyway. "Flowey it is," the skeleton concluded, his grin somehow growing wider.

Maybe if I ignored him he would go away. I could always just leave, but I really didn't feel like wandering through the underground trying to find a new spot to think just because some jerk decided to bug me.

"Gee, you're a literal stick in the mud, aren'tcha? Can't you see I'm trying to have a conversation with you here? C'mon, work with me." I glared at him. Why, yes, I could see that he was trying to have a conversation with me. Couldn't he see that I was trying to not have one? He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "Knock knock."

I pointedly ignored him.

"That's usually your cue to say 'who's there'. Let's try this again. Knock knock."

I let out an exasperated groan. Fine, I'll humor the guy. Why not. "Who's there," I intoned.

"P."

"P who?"

"Aw, I don't smell that bad!" He grinned at me, waiting for a response. I gave him my best dead-pan expression. I didn't have to work too hard to achieve the look. A few of the other monsters in the room chuckled to themselves at the joke, clearly listening in to hear whatever this guy had to say.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you don't want to hear another joke," he said dryly. "Y'know. Just a word of advice. You seem like you could be a pretty good guy, if you tried to be. It really wouldn't hurt to be nice to people now and again. Who knows? Maybe someone will grow on you." With another wink, the skeleton climbed to his feet and turned to leave. "Anyways, I'm late for work. See you around, kid." A few of the others in the room bade him farewell and he paused to wave to them before exiting the diner.

Finally. Peace and quiet. I returned to my musings about how to obtain the human souls, but a little part of me was troubled by what the grinning jerk had said. He was right about me being aloof. I had somehow lost my compassion when I had turned into a flower. I didn't used to feel this way towards other monsters. I had always been told that I was rather empathetic. And now I hated everyone. It was stupid for me to be bothered by such a small thing considering all of the other things that were wrong in my life. I tried to shove down my worry. I had more important matters to attend to.

After contemplating a course of action, I finally concluded that my plans would all be moot if I didn't actually have the ability to go back in time. There was only one way to test my theory and that

was to confront my mother and see if she remembered me. As much as I hated the idea, I had to know.

I burrowed into the ground and headed for the ruins. I had already covered most of the distance anyway just to get to Snowdin. And if Toriel remembered me, then I would just run away again, simple as that. It wasn't as if I cared about her feelings anymore anyway.

" _Hey Asriel, lighten up, I was just joking with you. There's no way I'd take your soul. It's probably too weak to pass through the barrier anyway."_

" _Haha! As if! I'm way stronger than you are, Chara!"_

" _Oh, really..."_

My mother blinked at me, obviously confused. She hadn't been inside the house, so I had to go into the ruins to find her watering a patch of flowers. It was the same patch of flowers that Chara had fallen into all those years ago. I gazed up into Toriel's eyes. I had never thought that I would find myself hoping that my mother didn't recognize me. After a painstakingly long moment, the goat smiled down at me.

"Hello there, my child. I haven't seen you around the ruins before. What can I do for you?" I breathed out a sigh of relief. I was right! Somehow everyone's memories of me were gone! If I did it once before, I could do it again!

"You have already done plenty," I informed her. She cocked her head, frowning.

"You do seem oddly familiar, though... Have we met once before?"

I gave her my biggest grin. "I sure hope not. Not like this anyway." Before she could give me a puzzled response, I retreated into the soil. I set out towards the garbage dump in waterfall, simply because it was the place where I had managed the miraculous time warp thingy before.

My head broke the surface, surrounded by my smaller counterparts drifting in the water. Now how to use my powers... "Go back!" I demanded into the air. Nothing happened. "Restart!" I shouted. Still nothing. The sound of rushing water filled my ears and the place remained exactly the same.

"I-is someone there?" a tentative voice asked. Oops. It seemed as though I wasn't the only one down here. Well that was embarrassing. From behind one of the garbage stacks, Dr. Alphys poked her head out, both claws nervously tucked under her chin. I grit my teeth and sank down to hide among the other flowers. Oh great, not only was I not alone, I was with the one person who knew who I was.

"I, uh, m-must be imagining things," the doctor said when her cursory glance didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Another person stepped out behind her to get a look. I didn't know the dark-skinned fish monster, but they didn't look like someone I wanted to mess with.

"Nuh-uh. I heard it, too, Alphys. There was definitely someone yelling over here," the other monster said, crossing her arms. She strode over to my location, and despite my camouflage, spotted me immediately. "Whoa! There's a flower with a face over here! What's up, little guy?" She gave me a huge, toothy grin that somehow made her look even more scary.

"W-what? A flower with a f-face?" Dr. Alphys tentatively followed her masculine friend. She stopped when she saw me huddled in the flowers. "A-asriel? What are you doing here?"

"Hiya, Alphys," I mumbled, pulling myself out of the water now that I was caught. I would have run away, but Alphys might be able to give me more information about this determination stuff and maybe help me figure out how to use it to go back in time again.

"Wait, you know this guy?" the taller monster blurted. Then she paused. "Did you just call him Asriel? Isn't that, like, the name of Asgore's kid?" Alphys looked down at the ground and scuffed her feet in the water.

"N-no. I mean. Y-yes. I mean. Th-this is a d-different Asriel? Um..." Wow she was bad at lying.

"Howdy! I'm Asriel, the king's son that Alphys here managed to turn into a flower! Nice to meet ya!" The baffled expression on the monster's fishy face was priceless. Totally worth it. I settled my gaze back on Alphys and addressed her again. "Heya, Doc, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"Um. Whatever you n-need?"

"Do you happen to know anything about the ability to travel back in time?" Alphys and her companion exchanged looks, the friend looking confused, Alphys looking scared.

"I, um, don't know how to m-make anything like that work. I mean, I've heard of st-stuff like that, but most of those stories... Don't end well... Why do you ask?" I frowned. So she had heard of it at least.

"I think the determination let me reset time once before," I admitted. I hadn't planned on telling her that, but if she had any information that might help me, that was better than nothing. And if I did manage to get this to work, she wouldn't remember me telling her anyway.

"R-reset? To what point, Asriel?"

"Back to when I first woke up as a flower. I thought it was strange when no one seemed to remember me, including you. I spent a whole month as a flower before that, but when I woke up again, it was like none of that had ever happened."

"What?! Th-that's unusual. What triggered it? Do you know?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," I growled. "The last thing I remember was..." Dying. The idea suddenly struck me. What if the only way to reset everything was to die? It was a risky move, but worth trying.

"Th-the last thing you remember was what, Asriel?" The doctor's eyes were wide with concern. The fish beside her looked like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what she could add to this conversation. No doubt she was confused out of her mind.

I smiled up at the doctor, formulating a plan of action in my head. "Thanks for a whole lot of nothing, doc! See you around!"

"W-wait! Asriel!" I plunged into the ground and made a bee-line towards the castle. Alphys scrambled to where I had disappeared, but I was already far beyond her reach. It was time to face my father again and see just how strong he really was.

" _Have you ever wondered what dying feels like? I mean, human souls last outside of the body. Do you think that person is still aware of everything? Would it really be that bad to die?"_

A strange, ethereal glow shone through the stained glass windows of the hallway where I had resurfaced. King Asgore stood at the far end, his face cast in shadows. I waited patiently as he approached. It seemed that his moment of anger had passed, but his steps were resolute.

"I told you, little flower, I'm not going to let you take the human souls," he said grimly. "Now please, go home. Live your life. Be happy." I glared up at him, tears suddenly stinging my eyes.

"I have no home anymore," I stated. "And I can never be happy again. Never. The humans took that all away from me." The king closed his eyes in sorrow.

"I know what you mean," he said quietly. "I feel the same way."

"Then let me do it. Let me take the souls. Let me go to the surface, collect the seventh soul, and then I can break the barrier. Then we can get our revenge on all of humanity."

"No!" His eyes flashed open. "I have worked too hard to see those souls go to waste. Don't you understand? Don't you know what it's like?! To lose your home, your children, your wife?! Everything you've ever cared about?! It is me who's going to use those souls! Me!" He rammed his fist into one of the nearby pillars, leaving a large crack in the surface of it. The sound echoed through the hall, fading into silence. The king breathed heavily for a moment, overcome with emotion.

"Then why don't you just do it?" I asked quietly. He straightened and turned away from me.

"You wouldn't understand," he muttered. "The time will come when the seventh human will come down here. And then. And only then. I will take the souls and destroy humanity."

I ground my teeth. "You're just a coward!" I yelled. "You don't actually want to do it, do you?! You're too weak! You could take those souls right now, but you don't actually want to do it! That's why you sit around moping all the time! You're just hanging out waiting for a human that you're secretly wishing will never come! What. An. Idiot! Well, if you're too weak to do it, then I will! And if you won't give me the souls, then I'll take them by force!"

With all my pent-up rage, I summoned forth my magic. A ring of glowing pellets formed over my head and shot towards the king. Reflexively, he summoned his trident-like spear and smacked them out of the way where they pinged ineffectively against the wall.

"I really don't want to hurt you, flower," he growled, "so I must ask you to cease your attack. Go home. And if you don't have a home, make one. It's what all the rest of us have done. Leave my palace and never return."

I responded with a wordless yell, summoning more bullets. Wave after wave I fired at him, each batted aside with ease. Asgore's expression was dark as he rendered all of my attacks useless. After a while, my magic levels were drained and I was left panting on the floor. Seeing that I had stopped, the king dropped his spear to his side and it vanished.

"Kill me," I spat between heavy breaths.

"I will not."

"You useless idiot! Just kill me already!"

His expression turned to one of pity. "Have you really given up all hope, little one? Please. Go home. Pretend this never happened. Start a new life. Make new friends. Make a new family. Do whatever you can. Just don't give up. You've got to stay determined."

Determined. I was determined. I would show him. I would show everyone. I would prove to Chara that her sacrifice was not a waste! I was determined to live! I was determined to make everything right! I would! No matter what it took! With the last of my energy, I poured my magic into that one goal. The one thing that was keeping me going. Determination!

Light filled my vision, obscuring everything. Asgore, the hallway, everything melted into pure-


	3. Reset 2: Change of Heart

" _Don't be afraid for me, Asriel. You're my best friend. And this way, we'll be together. Forever. Just as I promised."_

Golden flowers, flickering sunlight. I blinked away the spots that flashed before my vision, taking in my surroundings. I had done it! I was back here again! I wasn't even sure how I had done it, but I had survived and I had gone back in time! I was a bit relieved to find that I didn't need to physically die in order to activate the reset, but it seemed as though I needed to be desperate to make it work. Desperate to accomplish my goal, no matter what. I guess that's what the word determination really means after all.

A huge grin crossed my face. After all the miseries and disappointments I had faced thus far, I found myself finally achieving something. Finding out that I could go back in time, now that was big. The irony was the fact that I was literally back to square one, but this time I was at square one with the knowledge of achieving square two. I truly felt determined, like I could achieve anything.

Then I remembered that I still had to figure out how to get those souls from Asgore. I clearly couldn't best him in a fight. My current form was far too weak for that. If I were still a goat, I might have been able to at least put up a fight, but my previous attempt had just been pathetic. Even with all my emotions behind my attacks, I hadn't even been able to touch the guy. No, I couldn't use an offensive tactic. I would have to be more subtle. It was time to put my acting skills to the test.

I looked around for Asgore and found him watering some of the potted plants inside New Home. I vaguely recalled having seen him in that location when I had first woken up last time, so that solidified my theory that this was, in fact, a time reset of some sort. It felt a little bit odd going to the guy I had just tried to fight and having him remember nothing of the event. I popped up in my old room, just a short ways away from where Asgore was standing.

Squinting my eyes shut, I tried to force myself to cry. This would be much more believable if I were crying. Unfortunately, despite my cry-baby nature, no tears came. It would figure that the one time I needed to cry, I couldn't. Oh well. Time to give this my best shot.

"Mom! Dad!" I wailed, "Somebody help me!" This was pathetic. Had I really acted this way when I first woke up as a flower? Ugh. "Please! Somebody help! I can't move! I can't feel my legs! Help!"

Asgore practically broke the door down, charging in as quickly as he could. "What's going on! Who's here?! What's wrong?!" He slid to a stop, eyes focusing on me. "What the... A flower?"

"D-dad? What's going on? Why can't I move?" His mouth hung open as his mind slowly registered what he was seeing.

"That's... Odd," he mused.

"Dad! Please! Help me! Where's Chara?! What's wrong with my body?!"

With a thud, he fell to both knees. Slowly, his arms lifted as he cupped my face gently in his great paws. "Asriel?" he asked hesitantly.

"Who else would I be? Dad, what's going on?" Man I wished I could bring myself to cry, but the king seemed to be eating up my display anyway. Idiot.

"But you're a... a... flower... And Asriel's... Gone." Tears were welling up in the old man's eyes. "My son, is it really you? Have you come back to me?"

"Dad, what happened? The last thing I remember, Chara was dying and we... I... I went up to the surface... And those horrible humans... They hurt me, Dad. I couldn't bring myself to hurt them back, but I could tell I was dying. The next thing I remember, I woke up here..."

His arms wrapped around me, squeezing all the air out of me and nearly crushing my stem. I grit my teeth against the agony and let the old man sob on me. "It's OK, my son. It was all just a bad dream. Everything was all just a bad dream." No, old man. This was no ordinary dream. This was a living nightmare. And there was no waking up from this one for either of us.

I couldn't take the monstrous weight anymore. "Dad," I gasped. "You're hurting me!" In a flash, his arms vanished.

"Oh! I do apologize! I'm sorry, my son, you're just so small. I didn't mean..." He looked utterly pathetic, sitting on the floor with tears in his eyes, his arms wrapped around his legs. A huge smile suddenly split his face. "I'm just so happy to have you back! I can't wait to tell everyone the news! Maybe your mother..." A distant look crossed his eyes. "Your mother... We could be a family again."

Not on my watch. Living with both Toriel and Asgore breathing down my neck did not sound appealing. Not anymore, anyway. An unbidden memory floated to the surface of my thoughts of a time when Chara and I sat together at the table with Mom and Dad, laughing and having a good time. No. I could never have that again. I pushed the nostalgia away. There were more important things to focus on now.

"What happened, Dad?" I was really trying to get him to talk about the events immediately following my death. If I could somehow get him to bring up the human souls by himself, then I wouldn't be forced to reveal how much I really knew on the subject. Unfortunately, it was infuriating trying to get any information out of my father, much less information that he would rather keep a secret. It all made sense to me now why he didn't bother telling me about it before. He was hoping that if I didn't know, then it would all just magically go away. He was hoping that there were no consequences for his actions. I knew better.

Asgore looked saddened by my question and looked down at the floor. "Many things, Asriel. Many things. You've been gone for a long while now."

"Did I... die?"

He didn't respond immediately. "Yes my son."

"So... Uh... W-what did you do about it?" Ugh, this was getting frustrating. There was no way I would have asked such a stupid question when I first woke up, but I needed to get on the topic of those souls! And asking questions that I already knew the answers to was just pointless.

The king breathed deeply through his nostrils. "We all do things that we regret, Asriel. But the past is behind us. You are here, and that is all that matters." Oh, for the love of- how the heck was I supposed to get him to bring those stupid souls up?!

"I have something I regret," I said carefully. The king glanced back at me, curiosity and concern shining in his eyes. "I regret not fighting back. When all those humans attacked me, I didn't do anything. I didn't fight back. I didn't kill them." My eyes met his. "I regret that. I should have been stronger. I should have taken their souls. I should have used that power to break down the barrier. Then we would all be free. Then I never would have died." I tore my eyes away. The tears I had been trying to force before now trickled down my face as raw emotion flooded through me. "I hate them," I spat. "I hate them all!"

"Asriel?" I couldn't see him very well through my blurred vision, but he looked pained. "Oh, Asriel, love is not something to be ashamed of. Showing mercy is not something to regret."

"But they deserved it, Dad! Every last one of them!"

"Son, you don't know that..."

"I do! Humans have been nothing but evil! They chased us out of our homes, slaughtering us all without once thinking about us! And then, all I wanted to do was fulfill my best friend's final request, and they killed me for it, Dad! Humans are evil! Humans deserve to die!"

I was shaken out of my emotional rant by a sharp sound. I looked over to see my dad's fist pounded into the ground hard enough to make some of the floorboards splinter.

"Never say things like that, Asriel! To call all humans evil would be to disrespect everything Chara ever stood for!" The king's eyes abruptly widened and he looked down, shocked to find his hand stuck in the floor. He dislodged it and pulled it to his chest, looking away.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Tori. I think I understand now. Why you left..." He clearly was not talking to me anymore. Hypocritical jerk. The king turned to face me again, showing a deep sorrow. "Besides," he continued, "if you had fought back, then you would be no better than them, now would you? After all, that is what makes us different from humans." His smile was soft. "We always show love and compassion. No matter what."

I glared at the floor, emotions choking off the words I wanted to say. I didn't have love anymore. I wasn't a monster anymore. I was a flower. And you want to know why, old man?! Because I showed mercy! Stupidity is what it was. No, you can't solve all of life's problems by being nice. In this world, how it really functions, it's kill or be killed. That's all there was to it. I hadn't killed those humans. So I died. "You're wrong," I muttered under my breath.

The king didn't seem to hear my comment, too absorbed in his own guilt, staring at the floor. A new pang of anger washed over me. The king had sworn to take revenge on the humans when I had died, but now that I was back, he was that quick to grow a conscience and revoke his previous oath. I had hoped that he would agree with me and be willing to listen to me this time now that he knew who I was, but instead he seemed to have a complete change of heart! Ugh. This guy truly was weak, so easily taking back everything he had worked for.

"Asriel," the king spoke softly. "Do you remember all those days you spent with Chara? Do you remember when she first came to us?" I shot him a glare. Of course I remembered. How could I forget? "The two of you were practically inseparable, you were so close. You were more than friends, you were like siblings." What's your point, old man? He closed his eyes, caught up in the memory. "It brought me hope. Hope that not all humans were evil. That perhaps humans and monsters could really grow up together, and not have to worry about wars and contentions."

"When you died, I forgot about all of that. My hope had been taken away. The humans had killed everything I loved all over again. But having you with me again... It's reminded me of the hope I felt, watching you and Chara grow up together. Chara was human. And she wasn't evil. Perhaps we have both been hasty in our accusations of human-kind. Perhaps we have simply misunderstood them." He left off there, staring into space. I grit my teeth, fighting back the rage that filled me. After a while, my father stood, looking regal and determined.

"There is something I must do," he stated. "Corrections I must make. I need to right my wrongs and make everything right again." He swept out of the room, swinging the door shut behind him. The door banged into its frame and hung open, obviously broken from the king's hasty entrance.

"You... Idiot..." I growled, though I knew that he was beyond the range of hearing. Logically, I knew that I should probably follow him, but I was so filled with rage that my entire frame was trembling. I had been trying to get him to reawaken the anger that had made him decide to collect the human souls, but instead I had somehow gotten the opposite effect. With a yell, I pounded both leaves crumpled into fists into the ground. It wasn't fair! None of this was fair!

" _Chara, I'm scared. What if this doesn't work? What if I lose you?! I don't think I could handle that."_

" _Don't worry, Asriel. It will work. You've just got to trust me."_

I sat at the river's edge watching the water rush by. I hadn't know where to go or what to do next. I was a bit frustrated with myself for not following Asgore when I had the chance and I had no idea where he had disappeared off to. Coming down to the river where Chara and I used to go to throw rocks in was just a natural habit. The cool lighting of the glowing crystals on the cavern walls combined with the gentle sound of flowing water calmed my emotions.

It seemed as though I spent more time contemplating my existence now that I was a flower than I ever had in my entire life. I suppose that's what happens when everything you know gets turned upside-down. It seemed as though all of my plans were continually being foiled. First I had made the king too angry, and now I had made him too happy. At this rate I would never get those souls. King Asgore was just one giant dead-end.

The sound of the water was accompanied by the sound of soft singing echoing down the corridor. It was a jovial sound, yet seemed oddly haunting coming from the distant cavern. The duet with the river grew closer and a figure formed out of the darkness. The monster was riding on a narrow boat, pushing it along with a stout stick. Their whole figure was shrouded in a dark cloak so I couldn't see any defining features about them. It seemed as though the singing was coming from the empty void under the figure's hood. I watched curiously, letting the distraction pull me away from my sallow thoughts.

"Tra la la. The water is wild and wet today. Tra la la a few more pairs of pants I should have worn. Tra la la. Tri li li. Tre le le. What is inside of an acorn?" Now that I could hear the gentle lyrics of the song, they seemed to be mostly gibberish, pointless words or sayings that had no coherent meaning. Eventually the boat slid to a stop in front of me and the monster's song ceased. The hooded figure turned to me as though it had known that I was there the whole time.

"Tra la la. I am the river man," they said, using the same sing-song voice, making their words a continuation of the meaningless song. "Or am I the river woman? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?" I stared at them. Oddly, they seemed familiar, but since I couldn't really see them very well, I couldn't tell if I knew them or not. I didn't remember seeing anyone riding the river before. I glanced behind me briefly, thinking of what I could probably be doing instead, but then sighed when I concluded that I really had nothing better to do. Sure. I would ride with this stranger. Why not?

It was tricky trying to board since I had to uproot myself and climb my way onto the boat using nothing but my roots. I settled onto the paddle-board-like boat, digging my roots into the wood to hold myself steady. The river person waited patiently for me to board, watching me with that empty hood before pushing away from the shore, letting the river take us away.

"Where are we going today?" they asked.

"I dunno. Nowhere I guess."

"Then we're off."

With that, the river person resumed singing. I tuned out the words, not really caring about them. The rise and fall of the melody beating in time with the swaying of the boat soothed my mind and I let that carry me away.

"Tra la la. The angel of death returns. Will he save or kill us all? Tra la la. Time will be reset to the day the human falls."

Some of these lyrics were starting to bother me. They still sounded mostly like gibberish, but occasionally, something would come up that seemed applicable to my current circumstances. I began to listen more closely to them, trying to make a little bit of sense out of what this person was singing.

"Tra la la. Beware the man who came from the other world. Tra la la. Love is the key to unlock the long lost soul."

At last, the boat scraped to a halt. I looked around, but the cave seemed unchanged. We were back to where I had been picked up. "Why'd you bring me back here?" I asked.

"Tra la la. To nowhere you said we were going, and since nowhere is where you began, then we really did not need to travel far to get there." They looked over their shoulder at me, somehow piercing me with their sightless gaze. "So it is in life. We all need somewhere to go or else we find ourselves right back where we started. So where are you going, young master? You need not tell me. That is for you and you alone to figure out."

I hesitantly pulled myself off the boat, a little surprised at how quickly we had managed to circle around to the same location. "Come again soon," the strange monster sang, pushing the boat away. "Tra la la. Now we enter the tropical room. Tra la la. Be sure to eat a mushroom." the song faded away as the river person floated along to some unknown destination. I stared after the boat, a bit confused by the whole experience. That was definitely weird.

" _We're really going to do it, aren't we? We're going to break the barrier and free everyone! Mom and Dad are gonna be so proud!"_

Although the trip down the river had proven to be ultimately pointless, it had given me time to calm down from my rage at the very least. I really needed to find Asgore again. Although it seemed as though I wouldn't be successful in getting the souls directly from him, I was a bit curious as to what he was going to do. After all, in neither of the other two time-lines that I had lived through thus far had Asgore changed his mind about wanting to destroy humanity. Now that my own emotions were in check, I found myself wanting to see this through if only to discover what would happen now.

I was making my way through the dirt when I noticed more activity than normal above the surface. People were frantically wandering around, most of whom were members of the royal guard. Curious, I popped up above ground, staying to the side of the path so I wouldn't get stepped on. Almost immediately, I was spotted by two armored guard members.

"Hey, dude! I found him! Like, he's right there, bro!" The bulky pair bee-lined towards me, jostling a female flame monster out of the way accidentally. "Hey, man! Er. Flower! We were told, like, to be on the lookout for you. Like, apparently the king thinks you're his son magically returned from the dead or something. That's crazy, man, but, like, we have to escort you to the castle and stuff." Oh. Right. I hadn't told Asgore where I was going. He was probably worried sick. No wonder the entire kingdom was on high alert. They were looking for me. Go figure.

"I'll, like, call Undyne and stuff," the guard said, pulling out a cell phone. The other guard didn't say anything, but he nodded gratefully at his partner before scooping me up with his metal gauntlets. I wasn't a fan of being carried, but I was pretty sure that the guards would panic if I disappeared underneath the ground, and since I couldn't actually walk, they couldn't very well escort me any other way. Besides, the guard's armor was cooler than I had expected, smeared with some sort of mud. It was probably heat-resistant or something like that.

"Hey, Undyne. We totally found the flower! He's like in hotland. Yeah, 02's got him. We'll, like, be there in a jif." The guard hung up the phone and tucked it away in a pouch he had on his belt. He started forward along with the guy who was carrying me and we began making our way to the castle.

"So, like, are you really him? Asgore's son I mean?" This guy seemed to be freakishly talkative, and his slang was enough to drive anyone up the walls. Finding myself irritated just reminded me about how insensitive I had become, though, so I decided to play it nice. The fact that I couldn't seem to care about anyone still bothered me.

"Yeah," I said. "Unfortunately."

"Dude! So, like, how does a boss monster become a flower?! And like, rise from the dead and stuff? Cuz, like, man that's super awesome!" The monster that was acting as my personal transport grunted slightly, whether in affirmation or scorn I couldn't tell. We entered one of the many elevators around hotland and moved up. Most of the elevators in the area were connected, so it was really easy to move around the place, so long as the elevators were working properly.

"Well, you know, I really gotta hand it to Doctor Alphys. She's the one who brought me back to life with some of her experiments." Yeah, sure, I could tell the truth. Why not?

"Whoa! Really?! Like, sweet deal, man! Dude! The doc is amazing! I heard that she, like, helped a bunch of other people, monsters who had fallen down and were gonna bite the dust and stuff. And like, last we heard about it, she said that they were up and walking again!"

I thought back to when Alphys had talked about injecting determination into monsters as another one of her experiments. Something told me that Alphys hadn't told them the end results of said experiments yet. "Huh. What'd she do?"

"Don't know, man, but whatever she did, that's like, the coolest thing ever. 02, wasn't it like your cousin or something who was talking to us about it?"

There was a pause for a second, as though the guard holding me had to think about the other one's question. He breathed in and let out a deep sigh before speaking.

"Yeah... Bratty knows Alphys..." For how much the one guard talked, the other seemed to make up for in how little he spoke. Wow, these guys were perfect for each other.

"That's right! Haha, how could I forget Bratty, man! She knows everything! Your cousin's awesome, bro!" I turned to stare at the plaza of what used to be the main lobby of an apartment building. The whole place seemed to have undergone a massive transformation with posters of some crazy square computer thing plastered everywhere. The fountain in the middle was shut off and construction tape surrounded it. Apparently they were modifying it, though I hated to see what they were going to ruin the poor fountain with, considering the other horrendous decorations that had been added to the place. I hadn't noticed the changes before since I usually skipped past this whole area while traveling underground.

The talkative guard carried on the conversation until it turned into pointless noise not too different from the song of the river person. Pretty soon, I adopted a similar technique of the guard holding me, giving vague short answers and grunts when a pause in the otherwise endless stream of words made itself available. How could anyone stand to listen to such drivel? The weird thing was that the dragon-like guard who was hanging on to me seemed to be enjoying the conversation. Monsters were weird.

"So, like, we're here and stuff," the guard called when we finally approached the castle.

"Finally! You punks sure took your dear sweet time, didn't you?" Oddly, I recognized the fish monster that stormed out of the front gates of the castle. It was the same monster that had been with Alphys at the garbage dump. So this was Undyne, head of the Royal Guard? Huh. Good to know. No wonder she looked so scary. Right at the moment, she did not seem particularly happy.

Undyne came to a stop about five paces away from me and the two guards I was with. She glared intensely at me, her face riddled with distrust. "So you're the one who's got Asgore all in a tizzy, huh? Well, I've got my eye on you, punk. Once you've seen Asgore and settled him down, you've got some explaining to do. And you better be telling the truth, or I'm going to go over there and beat you up. Ngaaah!" She turned on her heel and marched back the way she had come, red hair streaming behind her like a banner. Golly, what was her deal?

The guards I was with only looked at each other for a moment before following her, pulling me into the castle. Time to face my father. Again.

" _Hey, Chara, you're not crying, are you? Come on! You and I both know that I'm the cry-baby around here! You're always telling me that big kids don't cry."_

" _... I'm not crying, Asriel... I don't cry. Not anymore..."_

"Aaaasgooore!" Undyne called. "We found your flower!" Thunderous footsteps approached us followed by the massive form of my father. He spotted me immediately and wasted no time in scooping me into a firm embrace.

"Asriel, my son! I was so worried when I returned and you were gone! I am sorry if I upset you. I'm so glad that you have returned to me."

Surprisingly, with me riding mostly on his shoulder this time, he managed to not squeeze the life out of me. "It's OK, Dad. I just needed some time to think." I hadn't been gone for that long. Geez.

"Hate to cut this family reunion short, but what the hell is going on?" Undyne planted both fists on her hips and narrowed her eye at the two of us. The king blinked, unsure of how to answer.

A new voice cut in from somewhere behind me. "I m-might have an answer to that," Alphys said, entering the room. Thank goodness the doctor was here. That way I wouldn't have to explain myself. "I came as soon as you called!" Alphys coming when called? That was a first. She probably heard about a flower and came to investigate.

"Howdy, Alphys!" I called.

"Uh... H-hi. Um..." She hesitated now that all eyes in the room were focused on her. Undyne seemed to notice the doctor's nervousness and excused the two guards who had brought me in with a jerk of her head towards the door. Both guards saluted and hustled away, eager to be as far away from Undyne as they could possibly go. I didn't blame them.

"Do continue," Undyne encouraged.

"Um... Yes, well. That fl-flower was one of my experiments. I, uh, was using the flowers as a vessel to hold the monster souls with because a monster c-can't... Well... Anyway, a flower seemed best. B-but all the other flowers I used d-didn't do anything, so I thought... Uh... That this would be the same, so I put him back?"

"So why is it claiming to be Asriel?"

"Because I AM Asriel!" I piped up. I already knew that Alphys didn't have a good response to that question, so I decided to save her the embarrassment of having to explain her weak theories.

"Shut up, you stupid flower! I'm talking to Alphys here!" Undyne didn't even spare me half a glance. I sneered at her. Man, this woman was rude.

"I, um... I'm not actually sure? I mean, i-it could be possible, I guess. That was the first flower that grew after Asriel... um.. b-before the queen left. It might've absorbed some of the dust left over from when Asriel d-died. And I did some stuff to it, injecting it with det- er, stuff from the human souls that make things live after they've died. A-anyways, I guess it worked?" Undyne did not look convinced. Alphys stooped and shuffled her feet awkwardly.

I was caught off guard when the king spoke, his low voice rumbling in his chest. Since I was plastered to his body, I could feel the vibrations of it. "And what of the other experiments, Alphys? You told me before that the other monsters were up and walking again, but I've been getting calls from their families saying that they haven't returned yet."

Abruptly, Alphys cowered. She started trying to speak, but all that came out were stutters. I gave a wry smile. It seemed I was correct in assuming that Alphys had not yet told anyone that her other experiments had melted. I noted with interest that the monsters had recovered for a time before their bodies gave out on them. I really hoped that Alphys wasn't lying about my body not being in danger of melting. Especially with how much determination I was using to revert time.

"I. I. I... I'll send them home soon. There's j-just a f-few more things I n-need t-to... Uh..." Sweat rolled down her face as the lies spewed from her mouth. She really was bad at lying. It was a good thing that monsters were idiots. "I should probably check up on Asriel." Nice topic change, doc.

Asgore reluctantly handed me over to Dr. Alphys and I underwent her examinations for a third time. I didn't even blink when she poked me with the needle and muttered under her breath about my not having a soul. At last, the doctor concluded that I looked fine and promptly excused herself from the room. No doubt she would lock herself up in her lab and never come out again, like she had the first time I had showed up.

No sooner had Alphys left when Undyne turned on the king and practically exploded with anger. "So what if Alphys somehow brought your son back to life?! What's that got to do with you suddenly changing your mind about the war on humans?! Do you want us all to suffer and be stuck down here forever?!" Ah. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only person who was ticked off by Asgore's abrupt change of heart. And boy this fish lady could yell!

The king closed his eyes and sighed. "This has been a decision I have been thinking about for a long time," he murmured. "Having my son returned to me merely helped push me in the right direction. It was wrong for me to accuse humanity for taking away my children, and I had no right to take away theirs. It is time that we let this contention cease between monsters and humans."

"What a load of crap!" Undyne snarled. "Humans have been nothing but evil. And we're so close to being free! Just because you're being a wimpy loser doesn't mean that I'm going to stand for that crap and pretend to be happy while rotting under this mountain! I will personally rip the next human's soul from their body and bring it to you, first chance I get! You hear me?!"

Asgore remained silent, hanging his head down with his eyes closed. Undyne briefly waited for a response, gritting her teeth in a jagged scowl, before letting out a disgusted grunt and storming away. She might be able to help me out. I would need to have a little chat with her later. Preferably when she had calmed down a bit. She would probably rip my head off if I tried to talk to her now.

"She's right, you know. Is it really worth sacrificing the happiness and freedom of every monster for the sake of a single human life?" If I could convince my father, that would be great. Asgore breathed out slowly, releasing the breath he had apparently been holding while enduring Undyne's wrath.

"If only it were that simple, son," he rumbled. He ceased speaking for a moment before continuing in a less-assured tone. "If another human finds their way down here and the fates truly rested upon the decision of a single soul versus the entire race of my people, I may choose a different path. But as for right now, I think it is time that I ended this pointless war. I do not think I could bring myself to kill the entire human race. It is hard enough to bring myself to harm one child."

I was about to argue that he wouldn't necessarily have to be the one to destroy all the humans when a distinct memory floated up to the surface of my mind. The memory of holding the power of my soul combined with Chara's, of staring down the raging humans and knowing that I could end them in a single blow. And the memory of the guilt I felt at the prospect. The memory of feeling content, knowing that I would not be the cause of another person's sorrows.

Weakness. Compassion was weakness. I died because of that weakness. But I remembered what it felt like, and for some reason I could not bring myself to blame the king for feeling the way he did. Angry at having been hurt, but incapable of giving the enemy the pain that they deserved. It was easy to say that I wouldn't be caught up in that same rut, but would I feel the same when the time actually came? I suddenly wasn't so sure.

"In any case, I am sure that you are worn out from all this. Here, I shall bring you to your room. Can I get you anything?" I found that I didn't have a good response for him. I could almost physically feel my determination waver, if only the tiniest fraction. I let him carry me to my bed with no further comment. I waited until the door swung shut on its broken frame.

Freeing monsters was surely the right thing to do, wasn't it? And yet not killing anyone was also the right thing to do. Unfortunately, the two could not co-exist. One thing was for sure, though. I had to stay determined. I had to keep going. If I doubted myself, if I lost sight of what I was trying to achieve, then my frail form was bound to fall to pieces. I could not allow myself to choose a path that required doing nothing, because that path would lead to certain death.

No. I had to do it. I would get those souls, and I would shatter the barrier and eradicate humans once and for all. No matter what I had to do, I would do it. After all, that's what determination was all about.

" _Are you ready, Asriel?"_

" _Psht! Who cares about me? You're the one who's giving up your soul!"_

" _..."_

" _..."_

" _Chara?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _... Good luck."_

It took me forever to find Undyne. After asking one of the guards, I found out that she lived in waterfall, but even when I went there, she wasn't home. I finally found her in a place where the water seeping through the cavern ceiling dripped like rain and collected into a myriad of puddles. She was taking her anger out on the serene little lakes, kicking up giant sprays when she stomped as hard as she could on the water.

"Um, hello," I said shyly when I resurfaced well out of range of her feet.

"What do you want?" Undyne snarled without even turning to look at me. Another puddle exploded in a shower of droplets. When I hesitated, she looked over her shoulder, then did a double-take when she saw who it was that was speaking to her. I very suddenly had her full attention.

"You. You're the one claiming to be Asriel, huh?" She turned to face me and folded her arms, looking menacing even though her red hair was plastered against her neck from all the rain.

"Yeah. I'm Asriel."

"Well, whatever. Whether you are who you say you are or not, I don't really give a rip. What do you want? Here to tell me about how wonderful and great humans are?" Her voice turned high-pitched as she began trying to imitate my own voice. "Oh, look at me! I grew up being best friends with a human! I even went to the surface world! Aren't I so great?" She glared down at me, practically oozing an aura of pure hatred.

"Actually, I came here because I agree with you."

She blinked, but her expression remained unchanged. "Oh, really..."

"Yeah. I'm not sure if you noticed, Undyne, but when I went to the surface, I DIED." My words were hard and clipped. I wanted her to see just how serious I was about this. "I want the see the barrier broken and the humans killed just as much as you do."

Undyne narrowed her eye at me, suspicious. "Alright, so you're not as big a softy as I thought you were. Now why did you come all this way looking for me just to tell me this?"

I smirked. Finally. Someone who would listen to me. "Because I need your help, Undyne. You see, we don't need to wait until a human falls down here before we can break the barrier." Her face shifted to a look of puzzlement, so I continued. "A monster only needs one human soul to pass through the barrier. I pretty well proved that. Then, once a monster is out of the Underground, they can collect the remaining souls and return to break the barrier." I let the weight of that information sink its way into Undyne's mind.

"Wait, wait... You mean to tell me... That we could have been free this whole time?!" She bared her teeth and kicked at an echo flower. The unfortunate flower burst into a cloud of petals at her touch. It was a not-so-pleasant reminder that she could very easily do the same thing to me. "Ngaaaaaah! Are you frickin' kidding me?! Does the King know he can do that?! Urgh!"

"Yeah. He does. And I told him that's what he should do, but he won't listen to me! That's why I need your help." Undyne took a deep breath, settling her rage.

"So that's why he disbanded the royal guard," she muttered to herself. "Figures that the big guy couldn't bring himself to do it after all. Old goat's got too big a heart for his own good." I let her contemplate for a moment. "Right. So I take it you want those souls, huh? The six souls we already have?" I nodded firmly. "Well, too bad!"

What?

"Yeah, you can't have them. Because I'm going to be the one who's going to go up there! I'm going to go kick Asgore's butt, and I'm going to take the souls for myself! I'll be the one who breaks the barrier! Got it?"

"Uhhh..."

"Thanks for the tip, punk. Now stay out of my way!" She spun on her heel and loped off, taking out a few more puddles on her way out. Well, at least I got her to do something. This I HAD to see.

" _There. It's done. There's no going back now."_

For some reason, I ended up beating Undyne to the castle. When she did show up nearly an hour after I arrived, she was clad from head to toe in full plate armor. I remained underneath the floor, not wanting to get anywhere between the two monsters. Knowing how frail I was, I would probably turn to dust if even the smallest attack managed to hit me.

Asgore was kneeling in his garden of golden flowers in the throne room, tending to the flowers. He stopped what he was doing when he heard the distinct clink of Undyne's armored feet on the tiled floor. "Ah! Undyne! Er, what's with the armor?" His eyes were wide and oblivious. Undyne's expression was unreadable behind her creepy helmet.

"Your son told me something interesting just now."

"Asriel? What did he say?"

"Did you know that we could get past the barrier with just one human soul and then collect the other six needed to break the dumb thing?!"

The king didn't respond, but his eyes went dark and he slowly stood to face the head of the royal guard. "Ah," he mumbled.

"So you did know! And you didn't do anything?! All these years we've been keeping ourselves going with the knowledge that one day we'd make it out of this hell hole, and all this time, you had everything you needed to make it happen! And you did nothing?!" She took a step forward. Asgore looked down at the floor.

"I did what I felt I needed to do," was all he said to defend himself.

"Well, now I'm doing what I feel I need to do! For the sake of all monsters! I can feel all of their hearts beating as one with the purpose of escaping, and the only thing that's holding us back is you!" A white-blue spear formed in her hands and she held it at the ready, prepared to hurl it at the king. "Now give me those souls or I'll take them from you by force!"

I was expecting some epic battle, the two battle-trained monsters at each others' necks fighting for the six human souls. Instead, Asgore refused to even summon his trident. He stood there, staring at the flowers on the ground, doing absolutely nothing.

"Well?!" Undyne shouted at him.

"Think as you may like, Undyne. I am afraid that I can not do as you ask." He looked... Sad...

I could almost audibly hear Undyne grinding her teeth beneath her helmet. "Then prepare to defend yourself," she snarled. With that, she leaped into the air, bringing the spear down on him. He didn't fight, he didn't move. He stood there, taking the blow head on. His armor took the brunt of the damage, but the force of the blow shoved Asgore to the ground and slid him backwards a few feet.

Undyne jumped back, flipping her spear impatiently. "Fight me!" she demanded.

"I will not," the king stated firmly, sitting up and gripping his shoulder where the spear had hit.

"Ngaaah! You're such a pathetic wuss! Get... up... and... Fight!" Asgore didn't respond, closing his eyes. "Fine. Then you leave me no choice." she lowered her spear and charged him again.

This time Asgore moved. He parried the spear by shoving it away with one hand, letting Undyne's momentum carry her forward. When the shaft of her spear was midway past Asgore's hand, he grabbed it and wrenched it from Undyne's grip. Undyne stumbled, her balance thrown off from the unexpected move. She caught herself quickly, reforming her fighting stance. The king used the spear to lift himself from the ground before tossing it to the side where it fizzled and despawned.

"I will not fight you, Undyne, but you are right. I am no longer fit to rule this kingdom." That caught her off guard almost as much as the parry had.

"What?! That's not-"

"I was only trying to give everyone hope. It seems, though, that I have failed in that task. I will gladly resign as king. However, I can not allow you to kill all of those humans on the surface. I say that not as your king, but as your friend."

"Like hell you are!"

He sighed, making firm eye-contact with Undyne. "If you destroy all those humans, you will destroy yourself. I can not stand by and watch that happen. Kill me if you must, but I will not allow you to continue."

Undyne tore the helmet from her head and threw it on the ground so Asgore could see her face. "So what, you think I'm the one who needs saving here?! Well, I've got news for you, pal! Everyone is counting on me to make their hopes and dreams come true, and I'm sure as hell going to make it happen!" Her fangs were bared and her remaining eye was wild with passion. "Now give me those damn souls!"

She didn't wait for a response, summoning a new spear and charging at him again. Her approach was more tactful this time, wary of Asgore since he was likely to try another parry. The huge goat stood his ground and blocked the spear with both paws. He tried to throw the spear to the side again, but Undyne was expecting that and moved with the spear, jumping to the side before ramming it point-first under Asgore's arm and into his chest. He grunted at the impact, but his armor prevented the spear from penetrating his upper torso.

The king swung his arm down, grabbing the spear's shaft and yanking it towards the ground. Undyne instantly let go of the weapon and summoned a new one. Three more formed in the air and shot straight at Asgore's unprotected face. He dodged those easily enough, but Undyne took that opportunity to attack with the spear in her hand again. Asgore grappled her, trying to shift her weight to his advantage, but Undyne was relentless.

"Stop being so resilient!" she snarled. She wrenched free of Asgore's grasp, skipping out of reach and summoning more spears to her aid. I watched the battle continue, transfixed. Undyne leaped into battle again and again, often scoring hits on the old goat, and all the while Asgore did nothing but parry her attacks. He really was being serious about not harming the younger fish monster.

At last, Asgore dropped to his knees. Cuts and bruises covered his body and sweat poured down his face, matting his fur. He was defeated. Undyne stood over him, letting the spear she was holding drop out of existence. "It's over, Asgore. I beat you. Now hand over the human souls."

He laughed, a deep, mirthless laugh. "You'll never find them," he said, meeting her gaze with defiance in his eyes. "You can kill me or you can let me go. Either way, you will not get those souls."

Undyne let out a growl of frustration and slammed her foot into the ground, smashing flowers and tiles alike. "Really?!" she cried. "You're really going to do this?! After all we've worked for, you're going to insist on standing in the way of everyone's freedom! And for what?! For some pathetic humans you don't even know!"

"No," Asgore murmured. "I do this not only for the humans. I do this for your sake as well." He shifted his weight, mustering up the last of his strength to try to stand. He made it to a low crouch, leaning heavily on one arm. "If you take those souls, it will transform you into a being of great power. You will have the power to free us and destroy humanity, but everything that is you will be gone. The great warrior Undyne will be no more. I had once taken that burden upon myself, but it seems that I can no longer follow through. And it is because I care for you that I must insist that you do the same."

The head of the royal guard grit her teeth. "Leave. Get out of here. And if you come back, I will beat the hell out of you again. Understand?" Asgore smiled gratefully at her.

"Of course," was all he said.

"And don't get me wrong! The first human that comes down here, their soul is mine! I'll take it and be sure the barrier is broken once and for all!" Asgore nodded solemnly.

"Do as you will. Just so long as I am not the one enabling you to do such terrible things." He staggered to his feet and limped away. I watched him go, mouth agape. Even after all of that, I still wasn't any closer to getting those souls! If anything, I had somehow made it so Asgore had cemented it in his mind that he would never let those souls be used at all.

When the old king was long out of sight, Undyne punched the wall, swearing at the top of her lungs. I hesitantly resurfaced. I wanted to say something, but found that I didn't know what I could say that would make this situation any better. I was just as irritated with Asgore as Undyne was. He really was an idiot, but he was an idiot that was preventing either of us from achieving our goals.

Undyne noticed me after a little while and sat on the floor, resting her head on her hand. "So you were watching the whole thing, huh, punk?" I bit my lip and nodded. "Well, you're the one who started this mess. I aint gonna be the one who has to clean it up. We're down a king and still not any closer to breaking the barrier than when we started."

I hated to admit it, but she had a point. I had thought that maybe getting Undyne to fight Asgore would change his mind, or maybe Undyne would succeed in getting the souls from him and break the barrier herself. But instead, I had made a mess of things.

"So now what are we supposed to do, Prince Asriel?" she sneered. I looked down at the floor for a while. Then I met her gaze letting a cheerful smile cross my face.

"Why, I reset everything of course! That was a fun little experiment. Guess it didn't work. Time to start over!" Undyne gave me a baffled expression. "Thanks for all the help! See you next time!"

I poured everything I had into what I now knew to be my determination. No matter how many tries it took, I was going to get this right. After all, I was determined. Undyne and the shattered throne room faded away.


	4. Reset 3: Play it Nice

" _Chara? Are you there? I did what you asked. Did it work?"_

The light receded and I slowly regained my vision. The throne room was back to normal. Soft light shimmered over the field of flowers. All signs of the battle I had just witnessed in this room had vanished. I beamed at the sight. I really was getting the hang of using my time traveling ability.

So what was I going to try to do differently this time? I didn't really want to tell anyone who I was anymore. If I had to endure another diagnosis from Dr. Alphys or another crushing hug from Asgore, I would probably scream. There was a strange sense of freedom that came from being anonymous. No one had to know who I was. I could start fresh. I could be anyone I wanted to be. Do whatever I wanted to do. And even better, there were no lasting consequences. If I didn't like how things turned out, all I had to do was reset.

The concept was liberating. Strangely, despite all of my failures with Asgore, I found that I was in a good mood. This reset was going to be a good one, I could already tell.

"There, Undyne, I cleaned up the mess you made! Simple, huh?" No one was in the room, but it made me feel better making the snarky comment to the Undyne I had left behind. It still felt a little surreal to me that I had managed to convince her to beat up Asgore. And so easily, too! I wondered what else I could get the crazy fish monster to do. Maybe I could get her to beat up Alphys for me. I giggled at the concept.

I still had the problem of not knowing how to obtain the human souls from Asgore, but going back to the beginning of the timeline gave me a whole new perspective. Undyne wasn't the only monster I could manipulate. And besides, my whole purpose was to be the savior of monsters, but I didn't even really know any of the monsters I was saving. Time most certainly didn't seem to be an issue. And if things went wrong, oh well, I could always start all over. The world and the timeline was my plaything. My toys. I was free. I could do anything I wanted. I could set aside the issue of gathering those souls for a little while at least.

Strangely, an unbidden memory surfaced to my mind, the memory of the conversation I had had with that jerky skeleton. "You seem like you could be a pretty good guy, if you tried to be. It really wouldn't hurt to be nice to people now and again." His words echoed faintly in my head, dampening my otherwise perfect mood. I guess I could give it a try. If anything, the better I got to know people, the easier I could work with them. Maybe I could find an alternate solution to getting everyone to the surface. I could do it. I could play it nice. Solve everyone's problems. Why not?

I could start with Undyne. She seemed to be pretty scary, but on the same token, she had been reluctant to kill Asgore and had even spared him at the end of the battle. And knowing how strong she was, getting on her good side seemed like a fairly smart idea.

I plowed through the ground, heading for Waterfall. I didn't really want to travel all that way by myself, so I changed my course a little to head to the river. I could probably hitch a ride with the river person and make my way to Undyne's house that way. It would require enduring more of the pointless singing, but the trip would be faster.

The river person seemed to be waiting for me, docked on the shore of Hotland. "Tra la la. I am the river man. Or am I the river woman? It doesn't make a difference. I love to ride in my boat. Care to join me?" I smirked at the hooded figure while uprooting myself so I could climb aboard. Having every monster introduce themselves to me again was a little irritating, but that's the magic of time travel. "Where are we going today?"

"Waterfall," I stated firmly. Almost immediately, the boat shoved away from the edge of the river and began floating away.

"Then we're off," the cloaked monster sang. They proceeded to sing along with the flowing water, more of the same nonsensical gibbering. I relaxed a little, humming along with the tune and thinking about what I would say to Undyne once I got there.

"Tra la la. A battle that never was meant to be. Tra la la. The broken man against the girl from the sea. Tra la la. Everyone seems to be missing a sock. Tra la la. Find them and maybe a secret unlock."

The boat scraped on rock and the whole thing ground to a halt. I opened my eyes to find that we were in waterfall. Excellent. I hopped off the boat, followed by a soft, "Come again soon, tra la la," from the river person. I shot them a grin before moving on to Undyne's house.

Thankfully Undyne was home this time so I didn't have to go looking for her again. As I approached, I could hear voices shouting inside. A large crash came from somewhere within. I moved below the door and remained safely underground as I tried to figure out what was going on.

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Undyne hooted as a strangely clad skeleton threw a tomato into the air before doing a back flip and kicking the poor fruit across the room. The tomato splatted across the far wall which had a target painted on it for the occasion. Most of the guts oozed down the wall and slumped off into a bowl placed below. A broken vase lay in shambles beside a grand piano a few feet away from the target.

"Nothing but the best from the Great Papyrus!" the skeleton crowed, doing a little victory dance. "That tomato has been Papyrus'd!"

"Er, I don't think that's a word, Papyrus."

"Well it should be!"

Whoever this skeleton was, he seemed to be about as enthusiastic as Undyne, if not more so. Judging from the guy's poor fashion sense, he was also a little crazy. I was just glad to see that he was not the same skeleton I had encountered in Snowdin earlier. He stood nearly as tall as Undyne, and she was pretty tall and lanky for a fish. I didn't really want my head to get accidentally bashed in, so I decided to hang out underground and watch them for a moment.

"I know! I'll coin the phrase! When something get's totally owned by someone as cool as me, it will be known as getting Papyrus'd!"

"So that would refer to basically nothing," Undyne smirked. The skeleton responded by launching a tomato at her face. Since Undyne was not expecting that, it nailed her directly in the nose.

"Ha! That'll be 5 gold coins!"

"What?! What for! You hit me in the face!"

"Precisely! You got Papyrus'd! And since I coined the phrase..." He held out his hand expectantly. "5 gold, please."

Undyne glared in spite of the giant grin plastered on her face and slapped her companion on the back hard enough to shove him to the ground. "You greedy bonehead! That's not how that works at all!"

"Really?!" The skeleton seemed legitimately surprised, though he was completely unfazed by the blow he had just received. "But my brother's been doing that to me for years!" Undyne snorted.

"Ugh. That guy... Now I'm curious. What phrases has he coined?"

"Oh, all kinds of things! ' Time to wake up ' is one. ' Clean your room ' is another." He looked around hastily. "It's a good thing he's nowhere around to hear me say those or I'd owe him 50 gold." Undyne howled with laughter, slapping the counter next to her. Papyrus picked himself up off the floor and dusted off his gym shorts that were labeled "hotpants" in permanent-ink marker.

"Hang on, Papyrus! I wouldn't owe you anything anyway! I never actually said your phrase!" Undyne hefted a tomato before throwing it full-force into the target. It left a nice-sized hole in the wall.

"No," he huffed, "but it was implied and it was directed at you. That totally counts!" He tossed another tomato into the air, summoned a large bone in his hands, then swung at the tomato. The tomato was reduced to paste that flung in a shower over the floor. Similar stains covered the walls and table. "Home run!"

Well, Undyne seemed to be in a good mood, and the skeleton looked pretty harmless. It was probably safe to come out and say hello. I popped my head up by the door, which was still in plain view but not anywhere close to them or the target they were throwing at.

"Howdy!" I made sure to look as happy and cheerful as I could manage. After all, I was trying to become their friends. Both Undyne and her skeleton friend stared at me for a moment as if they weren't quite sure what they were looking at. The skeleton was the first one to speak up.

"Wowie! A talking flower! Undyne, I didn't know you had a pet flower!"

"I... Don't..." Her face was particularly contorted, looking a bit like she had just caught whiff of some horrible smell.

"You don't? Then why is there one in your house?"

"Uhhhh..." Gradually her expression was becoming more and more menacing as she looked down at me. The tomato she had been holding was turning into a pile of goo in her fist. Uh-oh. Time to think of something to say.

"I heard some yelling and stuff breaking so I came by to see what was going on and if everyone was alright!" I grinned nervously, hoping that Undyne wouldn't decide to lob her projectile at me.

Undyne's eye narrowed. "Well, we're alright in here. Papyrus and I were just having our weekly very private one-on-one cooking lesson. Now I did not invite you in, so you may now leave, whoever you are." Cooking... Lesson...?

"Wait, wait! Um, I'm kinda new to the area and am trying to meet new people! Um. So..."

"Ooh! Ooh! I love meeting new people!" The skeleton clapped his hands together, and I swore I could see sparkles in his eyes, despite the fact that he only had eye-sockets. He rushed over to me and held out a gloved hand. "I'm Papyrus! What's your name?!"

"Uh..." Up until that very moment, it hadn't actually occurred to me that I hadn't bothered to come up with a fake name for myself. I couldn't introduce myself as Asriel. I really didn't want to open that particular can of worms. Unfortunately, I had inherited my father's inability to come up with names, so my brain went totally blank trying to think of a proper name for myself.

"Oh, I see," Papyrus said, resting a fist on his hip. "You are too enamored by how handsome and cool I am to be able to remember your own name! Worry not, my little flower friend! I shall give you all the time you need to collect your thoughts once more! Nyeh heh heh!"

I resisted the urge to scowl at him. I had to come up with something. Anything! A name popped into my mind and without stopping to think about it, I blurted it out. "I'm Flowey." Even as the name left my mouth, I began to internally groan. Flowey the freaking flower. Stupid skeleton!

Undyne looked as though she was trying very hard not to laugh. Thankfully, before she could say anything, Papyrus gave me a huge grin. "Flowey, huh?! What a fitting name for a flower! Although, I don't think I've ever met a flower before..." He stared off in space with a contemplative expression. He shook his head with a shrug and continued. "Anyway, so with you being new and all, I shall take it upon myself to introduce you to all the cool people I know!" He gestured wildly behind him to where Undyne had discovered that the tomato in her hand was no more. "This is Undyne! She's my boss!"

"Hi." she said, looking up at me and waving with the hand that wasn't stained red.

"Let's see, have you met Undyne's neighbor? What's his name... Swoopygoo? Tweedledee?"

"Napstablook," Undyne filled in for him.

"Yeah, I honestly don't know many people around here. I always just hang out with Undyne when I come to Waterfall." Papyrus scratched his head, looking uncertain of himself for the first time since I had met him. "But if we go to Snowdin, I know lots of people there! Come on! I'll introduce you to all of my friends!" He stepped past me to the door and opened it, leaving the room without checking to see if anyone was actually going to follow him. I glanced warily at Undyne to see what she was going to do. She let out a sigh, pulling a towel out of one of the cupboards.

"You two go on ahead. I'm going to stay behind and clean up this mess." She began meticulously wiping tomato juice off the counter. Gritting my teeth, I dove under the surface and went after Papyrus. I had really wanted to make friends with Undyne, but I didn't really have a good enough excuse to not follow the crazy skeleton. Guess I would just have to make friends with him instead.

" _I'm here, Asriel. We did it! You absorbed my soul! Everything is going according to plan!"_

Beady white lights set in empty sockets stared at me. It took all of my willpower not to glower back. Of course I would run into this guy again. Go figure.

"This is my brother, Sans!" Papyrus bubbled. I guess it only made sense that the two skeletons I knew of were related. When we had gotten to Snowdin, the first place Papyrus had taken me to was his house. I hadn't been entirely sure why until I saw the stubbier skeleton hanging out in the kitchen.

"Hey, bro. What's with the flower?" Sans had to look up at me since I was riding on Papyrus's shoulder. I hadn't noticed just how short the other skeleton was since he had still towered over me when I was on the ground. For some reason, knowing how tiny he was made me smile. I took that excuse to replace the glare I had originally wanted to make with a big grin.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" It was a bit strange introducing myself to the same man who had given me this stupid name, but that tended to happen when you traveled through time. A faint glimmer passed through the skeleton's eyes, though his grinning expression remained practically unchanged.

"Wow, dude. That's, uh, got to be the dumbest name I've ever heard." He winked at me.

"Sans!" Papyrus shouted, placing both hands on his hips. "That is not how you make friends!" I grit my teeth in irritation. This guy...

"Hm. Yeah, you're right, bro. Besides, it's not like he was the one who came up with it." What? How did he...? "Just means his parents are really horrible at coming up with names." He made eye contact with me again and gave another solid wink. My mouth hung slightly agape. He couldn't have remembered, could he? Nah. He must just be that much of a jerk.

"Well, I think it's an excellent name!" Papyrus interjected. "It's what I would name a flower! Nyeh heh heh!"

Sans shrugged, returning to what he was doing in the kitchen. "Whatever floats your bones, bro." Papyrus paused and scratched his head.

"What are you doing, Sans? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I am working," the smaller skeleton stated with an off-hand gesture. He was wielding a wooden spoon, and a number of ingredients and mixing bowls riddled the counter. Whatever he was doing, he was making a huge mess in the process. Flour practically coated the kitchen floor. "What about you? Aren't you supposed to be at your cooking lesson with Undyne?"

"Oh, I was! But you see, we were interrupted when this little flower came in. Flowey here says he's new to the area and wanted to make friends!" Sans stopped in his tracks. I almost missed the distrust that flashed across his features before he replaced it with an expression that could only be described as smug. He resumed his baking.

Papyrus stared proudly off into the distance, not paying attention to his brother. "Wowie! I feel so honored that he came all that way just to ask for my help!" Sure, Papyrus. That's exactly why I went to Undyne's house... Papyrus eyed the pie tin that Sans was lining with dough. "Are you making a quiche?" he asked suddenly.

"Nah. Are you kidding, dude? I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility."

"You're not ready for any kind of responsibility!"

"Precisely."

Papyrus turned his head to look at me, giving me a wry smile. "Anyway, that's my brother. We'll leave him to do his thing. There are lots of other people I should introduce you to!" Papyrus gave his brother a quick grin before turning to leave. Sans lifted his hand and waved without turning around.

"Nice meeting you, Flowey. Have fun, you two." I gave the smaller skeleton's back my best glare until the front door cut off my view of him. My opinion of the jerk remained virtually unchanged. If anything, I somehow hated him even more.

"I apologize for my lazy brother," Papyrus said. "You're lucky you found me first! Sans would have made a really weird first impression, I'm sure!" I thought back to when I had first encountered Sans in the diner. Weird first impression. Yeah, that was one way to put it.

My new skeleton friend proceeded to take me to various places around Snowdin. He introduced me to some of the various bunnies and dogs around town, but I got the distinct impression that although he knew of them and they knew of him, Papyrus wasn't really particularly close with anyone. So far the only people he seemed chummy with was Sans and Undyne. Judging from the wary glances the other monsters gave Papyrus, I was pretty sure that they all avoided him because they thought he was stupid or crazy. Honestly, I didn't blame them. He was a little of both.

For someone as bright and cheery as Papyrus was, he was surprisingly lonely. He kept up a continual dialogue with me, chatting about this and that. He had a very innocent view-point of the world. Poor naive fool. I was vaguely amused by just how stupid the skeleton was. He was constantly talking about how great he was, but the more I listened to him, the more it felt like he was using that as a tactic to reassure himself rather than a true narcissistic attitude.

He actually reminded me a little of myself. Or rather, who I had used to be. I always hung out with Chara, but other than that, I wasn't really close to anyone. And I had certainly been naive. So naive that I had been willing to let myself die rather than kill another soul.

Listening to Papyrus made me consider how easily I could manipulate him. I barely told the guy anything, and Papyrus was willing to think that I was one of the best people in existence. Golly, I could probably order him to get me a sandwich and he'd do it. He'd probably serve me as though I were King Asgore himself.

I endured through his idiotic prattling, nodding here, agreeing there. Eventually, we made a full circle around the area. I didn't remember most of the various monsters' names that we encountered, but at least I had a better idea of some of the folk and what they did.

"So, that's, um... All the people I know," Papyrus admitted when we found ourselves standing in front of Papyrus's house again. "Other than Dr. Alphys and, er, Mettaton, but I don't actually know them personally. You'll have to ask Undyne about them if you want to meet them."

"That's alright, Papyrus. You've been a great help." The lie was simple enough.

"Nyeh heh heh! You should expect nothing less from the Great Papyrus! I am always more than helpful! One could say that I am the most helpful skeleton of all!" He lifted me from his shoulder and gently placed me on the ground. "Now if you ever need anything, you know where to find me," he stated firmly. I nodded.

"See you around, Papyrus."

"Be sure to come back and visit me anytime!" With that, Papyrus retreated into the house. Looking around, I could see that most other monsters had also gone home. It was probably getting late. Time was hard to tell in the Underground, but everyone still needed to sleep. I was about to retreat back into the dirt when a voice from behind stopped me.

"Hey, thanks for humoring my brother. Not many people actually stop and talk to him, much less spend a whole day with him." I turned around to see Sans leaning up against a tree. "He won't admit it, but I can tell he really appreciates having you keep him company." His face was in shadow, but from what I could see of the pinpricks of his eyes, he seemed to be sincere.

I wasn't really sure what to say, so I just bobbed my head to acknowledge that I had heard. "Of course," I mumbled. Sans closed his eyes, looking like he was contemplating something. Finally he pushed himself away from the tree and walked past me, heading into his house.

"Welp," he said, "I'd better go in. Papyrus gets cranky without his bedtime story." He looked back at me long enough to give me a final wink before disappearing inside. I narrowed my eyes at the closed door behind him. I got the feeling that I was going to have to be wary of him. He gave me a bad vibe. I shrugged it off and left to go find somewhere warmer for the night.

" _I'm so happy, Chara! I was so scared there. I thought for sure I had lost you. Never do that to me again! I don't think I could stand it if you were gone."_

" _I would never leave you, Asriel. That's what best friends are for. We stick together. No matter what."_

Faint whispers reverberated back and forth through the cavern. Some people found the fields of echo flowers to be creepy, but I found the noise to be somewhat relaxing. Chara and I had liked to come down to Waterfall just to play with the chatty flowers. It was Chara who had first started using the flowers as a prank on other monsters and I had latched onto the idea rather quickly. I had always been good at voice imitations, which made it easier to prank people with.

Ultimately, though, I just liked to sit and listen to the flowers sometimes. They always just repeated the same phrase again and again, but they merged into a babble that sounded much like being in a crowded room with hushed conversation. It was a happy sound. The sound of hundreds of families enjoying each others' company.

I missed that feeling. The feeling of caring for those around me. Even with Papyrus, I had only been able to bear listening to him because I knew that I could probably use him to my advantage in the future. I didn't actually care about his feelings like a true friend should. And though I could brush it off and pretend that it didn't bother me, it did. I wanted to have someone that I could care about again. I wanted to have a friend again. I wanted to have a family again. Yet I could not seem to be able to love.

Thinking about this was a reminder of why I was doing what I was doing. I had to know if I could find a place somewhere. I could keep going until I broke the barrier, but there was a voice of fear in the back of my mind that wondered what would happen to me if I ever did accomplish that goal. Once my purpose was gone, what was left? My determination was only enough to keep me going so long as I had a reason to move forward.

In my mind, I solidified a new goal. The goal to find someone that I could care about and love. And despite my distaste for the shrubby skeleton, Sans was right. In order to make friends and start to care about people, I would have to stop thinking about myself and start serving the monsters around me. It was easier said than done, though. Without a soul, I could not shake the feeling that all the people around me were just toys waiting for me to play with them.

I waggled my head in irritation. The echo flowers continued to murmur all around me, so I distracted myself by trying to pick out what they were saying. "I wish I could see the real stars someday." "I wish my sister would stop picking on me." "I wish I didn't have to pretend to be happy anymore." "I wish I could see Undyne in action." "I wish I could find a hot guy." "I wish..."

Wishes. It seemed that all of these flowers had picked up the wishes of countless monsters. Glowing crystals shimmered in the roof of the cave in such a way that they almost looked like stars. I had heard that monsters used to make wishes on the stars above the surface and believed that making those wishes would somehow help them come true. Now that the only sky above our heads was made of stone, it made sense that the tradition could only be continued in a room filled with twinkling gems.

What did I wish for? I wished for a lot of things. I wished that Chara had never died. I wished that I hadn't been such a wimpy coward. I wished that my family was still together. I wished I weren't a stupid flower. Unfortunately, I had learned the hard way that things never turn out the way you wish for. I could gaze at the false stars above and hope with all my might, but that wasn't going to make them turn into real stars.

Hope. What a useless emotion. It was a bitter irony that hope was literally the only thing keeping me alive. My mouth twisted into a joyless smile. I was standing in a cave filled with everyone's hopes and dreams. And I, like Undyne, planned on making all of them come true.

Papyrus was an easy one. All he needed was friends. And some intelligence. Undyne... I wasn't sure what Undyne needed just yet. She was a blob of pent-up fury waiting to burst. Asgore was also easy, he needed his family back, but I wasn't really sure how to fix that particular problem. It hurt just thinking about it since that hit a little too close to home.

I watched as a couple of dogs walked by, hand-in-hand. One of them spotted me and waved, recognizing me from when Papyrus had introduced me to the whole town. I nodded in their general direction, putting on a fake smile. There was once a time when Asgore and Toriel had been together like that. I was pretty sure they had even won some ooey-gooey nose nuzzler championship or something like that. Although it felt like I was no longer a part of that family, it pained me knowing that my mom and dad weren't together anymore. Especially since I knew first-hand how perfect they were for each other.

Maybe if I could talk to Toriel, I could convince her to go back. Toriel didn't realize just how close Asgore was to giving up on the human souls thing. When I had spoken to her before, she had made it sound like Asgore had totally thrown away his compassion. I knew better. Honestly, if I could soften the king's frozen heart, Toriel most certainly could. She had given up on Asgore way too quickly. It made me a little angry inside, knowing that Toriel had ultimately been the cause of the ruined relationship. She may feel justified in her actions, but her going into hiding was just cowardly. A way of avoiding her responsibility to take care of her husband.

If I could make anything right again, fix anyone's problems, it should be theirs. I wouldn't have to tell them about who I was, I would just have to talk to them. Convince them. As much as they annoyed me, they were still my family. And putting my mother back on the throne would solve a lot of the other trivial problems around the kingdom. Asgore didn't know how to be king, but Toriel certainly knew how to be queen.

And who knew. Maybe Toriel would be able to get Asgore to release those souls to me. Then I could break the barrier. I grinned, formulating new plans in my head. With a new bout of determination, I dove underground, leaving behind the whispers of the echo flowers.

" _What are you doing, Chara? Put that down! You're creeping me out."_

" _Sorry, Asriel. There's something I want to do."_

" _Well, alright... It is your body after all."_

I slowed down to a crawl as I approached the Ruins. I wasn't expecting to see any monsters all the way out here, so seeing someone slumped against the giant door caught my attention. Easing my way closer, I could see that it was Sans. What the heck was he doing here? He seemed to be talking to the air, though he was too far away for me to make out anything he was saying.

He abruptly began laughing, a deep, hearty laugh. I didn't take him for being insane, so he must be talking to someone. As I inched closer, I could see white paws under the door from my underground perspective. Mom? He knew Mom? Their words became more distinct the closer I got.

"Ok, ok. My turn," Sans said to the door. "Knock knock."

"Who is there?" came my mother's voice.

"Dwain." What...

"Dwain who?" The...

"Dwain the bathtub! I'm dwowning!"

Toriel roared with laughter. I sat suspended beneath the earth with my jaw wide open. Seriously? I knew that Toriel had a poor taste in jokes, but really?! Good golly, that was awful!

Even as I stood motionless, my mother started in on another joke. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There was absolutely nothing funny about this, but here the two of them were exchanging jokes and laughter like two best buds swapping baseball cards. I was stunned for a solid five minutes, listening to joke after terrible joke. I took back my previous assessment of the skeleton. He was crazy. One-hundred percent crazy. And he was taking my mother down with him!

In a fit of anger, I poked my head above ground. "What the heck are you doing?!" I demanded of the skeleton. He blinked, caught off guard by my sudden appearance. It didn't take him long to recover once he focused on me and saw who it was.

"I'm doing what any comedian would do when presented with a huge door and an audience." He winked. "Telling knock knock jokes!"

"Hm? Is someone else there with you?" my mother asked through the door. Sans looked over his shoulder to direct his next comment at Toriel.

"Just a talking flower. His name's Flowey. Papyrus brought him by the other day. Seems like a pretty cool guy." He turned back to me, leaning forward a little. "What's up?"

"What's up?! I could ask you the same thing! What in the world are you doing all the way out here?" Sans's eyes narrowed a little, but with the grin permanently plastered on his face, it was really hard to read his expression.

"I'm working," he said. He gestured to where I could faintly make out a sentry stand in the distance. For someone who was supposedly working, he was awfully far from his post. What was his job, anyway? "How 'bout you? Seems quite the journey for a flower to travel all by himself."

"I..." I had no good response to that.

Sans shrugged, relaxing against the door. "Hey, I aint judging. None of my business." I grit my teeth. Having him blow me off like that rubbed me the wrong way.

"I'm here because I wanted to talk to Toriel." When in doubt, tell the truth. Sans blinked again, looking incredibly confused.

"Talk to who?"

A distinct rustling came from behind the door, but Toriel didn't say a word. I gave Sans a smirk. "You mean you don't even know the name of the lady you've been talking to?" He shrugged again.

"I'm not one to pry." I glowered at him. Yes you are, you dirty liar. It had taken a great effort to get him to leave me alone about my name when I had originally met him. That's how I got stuck with the name Flowey in the first place. Jerk. Sans shifted to halfway face the door again. "Hey, you know this guy? He asked for you by name."

The door remained silent. I winced. I had no way to explain to Toriel how I knew who she was. Not without revealing my true identity, and I really didn't want to go through that again.

"I... do not believe I know of any flowers with the ability to speak," Toriel finally said quietly.

Sans glanced at me suspiciously. "Huh. Weird."

"Um, she, uh, hasn't actually met me yet," I said hastily. "Could I talk to her alone?" Although Sans's expression didn't change, his gaze made me uneasy. "Please," I added just for good measure. He stared at me in silence for a long moment. Finally, he dropped his eyes, letting them slide shut with a heavy sigh.

"Y'know, it's kinda rude interrupting other peoples' conversations. But you did help out my bro, so I'll let it slide." He opened his eyes, leaving his sockets hooded. "This time." Man that smile could be creepy when he wanted it to be. He stood up, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and making his way into the trees nearby. I watched him step behind a tree where he seemed to vanish. A shiver went down my stem. Definitely creepy.

I wasted no time burrowing under the door and resurfacing next to Toriel. "Howdy!" I said. Toriel's brow was deeply furrowed as she stared down at me.

"Greetings, flower." Her expression eased to a softer one. "May I ask how you know my name?" I looked down at the ground awkwardly.

"Er... Let's just say I've known you for a long time and leave it at that." She frowned.

"And how did you know to find me here?"

"Same reason?" I really wished that she would stop asking me these questions.

She closed her eyes, looking contemplative. "I should have known this day would come," she muttered under her breath. Her eyes flashed open. "Did Asgore send you?" I shook my head vehemently. I had my own reasons for being here.

"No," I stated firmly, "but I would like to talk to you about him." She sighed deeply. Abruptly, she walked past me, heading through the passageway leading to the rest of the ruins.

"I do not wish to speak of that man," Toriel said in an equally firm voice over her shoulder. "But since you have come all this way, I might as well hear you out. But not here. Come. Let us discuss these matters in a more comfortable location."

I followed her down the corridor and up into the house where Toriel seated herself in her favorite chair. I popped up just a few feet in front of her and she leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees. "Now what is it you wish to say to me?" she asked stiffly.

"I, um..." All of my theoretical conversations I had worked together in my mind had not started like this at all, so I found that most of my ideas for how to phrase this had fled. "I know you're mad at King Asgore, and I know your reasons why. But I... Uh..." The eloquence of words was escaping me. There really wasn't a nice way to put this, was there? I winced at my own inability to say what I wanted in a way that Toriel might understand. My best fall-back was being blunt about the situation.

"Alright, Asgore's a complete idiot," I said with a smirk. "But I think you should go back anyway. Mostly because of the fact that he's an idiot. The guy is hopeless as King. Really, you did everyone a disfavor when you left us under that fool's reign." Now that I had started my rant, there was no stopping it. "And not only does the kingdom need you, he needs you, too. Have you seen what he's like without you? He spends every day wandering around, waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He's like a lost puppy! It makes me sick!"

"I know you left because you were mad at him for declaring war on the humans, but I think you'd find that he only did that out of anger. The idiot doesn't actually want to go through with it. He knows he could just take one of those souls and go to the surface to collect all the rest needed to break the barrier, but he doesn't. You wanna know why?! Because he doesn't want to! He is far too innocent and naive. The only reason he swore to kill the humans was because he thought it would give everyone hope again. And you could have changed his mind. But instead, you left!" I glared hard at Toriel, the beginning of tears stinging my eyes.

"You left us! At a time where you should have been there for us, you ran away! You forsook your duties to the kingdom! To everyone! We had already lost both Chara and... and Asriel. And then you had to go and leave, too! If you really cared about us... Any of us! You would have stayed! You would have tried to fix everything! You- You Coward!" I suddenly found myself sobbing violently, shaken with rage. I hadn't even realized how angry I was at my mother until now. The moment I had started opening up, it was like all of my pent-up emotions had burst out.

"You blame Asgore for the reason you left, but you do so to cover up your own guilt! You couldn't save Chara. You couldn't save anyone! You didn't leave because you were mad at Asgore. You left because you were ashamed of yourself and didn't want to face up to it! So you ran away! You ran away and hid in these abandoned ruins, hoping that the world would just forget about you. You're as guilty as him for the six humans who are now dead!"

I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down. Tears dripped from my eyes as I glared at the floor. I couldn't see Toriel's reaction. I didn't want to. This had not gone according to plan at all.

"Are you finished?" Toriel asked softly after a long moment of silence. I didn't answer, emotions seizing up my throat so I couldn't speak. I sat in the same position, breathing heavily as I tried to force myself to stop crying. This was just embarrassing. "I am sorry I have been the cause of such pain, my child. I assure you that I did not intend to hurt anyone. You say that it is my fault. Perhaps you are right. But the past is behind us now. Asgore made his decision. Just as I made mine. There is no changing that now."

I finally looked up to see her face, blinking away tears. A sinking feeling made a knot within me. I could tell that I had failed to convince her. It was all because I let my stupid emotions get in the way! Was there anything I could say to change her mind? Anything at all?

"I am sorry," she said, eyes closed. "But it is too late. I can not return to that place. Please try to understand. Besides, I have been gone for so long that no one would remember a silly old lady like me anymore. If I returned, it would only cause confusion. The only thing I can do now is wait and hope that I can prevent the next human child from meeting the same fate as all the others." She stared off into space, looking legitimately saddened.

"Mom..." The word escaped my lips. She didn't seem to notice, lost in her own thoughts. "Please," I begged her. "We need you." I found myself growing angry again. Why? Why was she being so stubborn?! So stupid! She could do so much more good back at the castle, but instead she chose to remain here forever. "Listen to me!"

Toriel's eyes slid to meet mine. Her face was hard as stone, immovable in her conviction. "I have listened to your plea," she affirmed, "and I have told you my decision. I must ask that you return from whence you came. Think no more of me. I am afraid that I am not able to do as you expect. You would be better off leaving behind the things of the past and doing what you can with what the future has to offer." She smiled in a way that was supposed to be reassuring, but I could see past it to the deep sorrow within her heart.

I scowled at her, unnerved by how similar her words were to my father's. "You're as bad as Asgore!" I shouted in a rage. Her eyes went wide in surprise. I was so fed up with dealing with those two. Both Asgore and Toriel were impossible to reason with. They were so stubborn and set in their idiotic ways. It made me sick!

Without looking back, I fled to the ground. I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts, so I made my way through the ruins. At last, I reached the spot where the cave opened up to the surface far above. I stood in the sunlight, surrounded by golden flowers. They made me think of Chara and of the time I had found her here all those years ago. Why couldn't anything go the way I wanted it to? Why couldn't anything go right?! Why?!

I screamed and cried to the air. I begged Chara to return to me. I called for anyone to help me. But nobody came.

" _I promised that I would trust you, Chara. No matter what."_

A strange thought came to me. I worked so hard trying to make everyone happy. And it never came to any good. I was always rewarded with evil. I let those humans live. They killed me. I tried to break the barrier. Asgore rebuffed me. I tried to be everyone's friends. They ignored me.

Why hadn't I trusted Chara all those years ago? Why hadn't I just killed all those humans? Everyone would have been better off. None of this nightmare would have ever happened. My family would still be together, Chara would be with me forever, monsters would have been freed from the underground, none of this nightmare would have ever happened.

I was so tired of playing it nice. So tired of trying to be the hero. No one would listen to me anyway. All these people were just a bunch of stupid idiots. Asgore, Toriel, Alphys, Undyne, Sans, Papyrus. Every monster. They were all so stupid. Why should I bother being nice to them? Why should I bother trying to solve their problems? They were the ones who got themselves in this mess anyway.

I hated them. I hated them all. I didn't care anymore.

In a flood of anger, I reset.


	5. Resets 4-5: Right and Wrong

" _Wow, Chara! Everything is so beautiful on the surface! This is amazing!"_

" _It's really not that great, Asriel. You haven't seen what it's really like up here."_

I glared at the throne room as it resolved around me. Anger filled every inch of my being. I had hoped that resetting everything would help me feel better, but I still felt just as angry as before. And now I would have to start all over again. Good job, me. I yelled in frustration, summoning a ring of glowing pellets and attacking the defenseless flowers around me.

Asgore spent so long tending to these stupid flowers and all they did was pose as a horrible reminder of everything I had lost. Really, there wasn't any point to me killing them, but I needed something to direct my anger at. The plant-life would have to do. It represented my grief pretty effectively.

Flower after infuriating flower exploded into ripped up shreds, remnants of the golden petals littering the tiled floor. Eventually, I managed to clear out the garden surrounding me. I stood panting, the only flower left alive in the room. I didn't feel any better.

A grin split my face, a deranged, twisted thing. I laughed at the bitter irony of my pathetic situation. Slowly, my expression dropped to a frown and I could feel myself start to cry again. This was hopeless. Above me, shining through the windows, I could see the barrier. It was taunting me. My head slumped and I stared heavily at the ground, shaking with the tears that began to flow from my eyes.

I hated this. I hated everyone. I hated being a flower. I hated feeling so weak. I hated how stupid everything was. I couldn't even beat Asgore into submission like Undyne had. I was useless as a flower. What was the point of being able to travel back in time if I couldn't do anything?! And all the people around me were just as useless. Why couldn't they do what I wanted them to? All I had ever tried to do was help.

Suddenly, a morbid thought entered into my mind. I could always kill them. There were no consequences for my actions. All I needed to do was reset. I could do anything I wanted and get away with it. Nothing would stay the same anyway. Everyone could die and it wouldn't matter. Everything would just get restored with a little bit of determination. Everyone could die.

Everyone should just die...

Memories flooded back. I remembered Chara being in my head, thinking the most horrible thoughts. I pictured those people. All of those humans. I couldn't kill them. I had the power to, but I didn't. I should have, though. All I had wanted to do was the right thing. What was the right thing? Somehow, in all of the confusion, I had chosen wrong. I should have killed them all.

I was laughing again, but I wasn't really sure why. The voice was so high-pitched, it hardly even seemed like my own. I could kill them. I could destroy them all. It didn't really matter. Nothing mattered anymore. This hopeless world couldn't get any worse. I could prove it. I could prove to Chara and to myself that I wasn't weak. That I could kill. That I could take the lives of others. It wouldn't make up for the time I had died, but it would make me feel better, knowing that I could do it.

Just like the dead flowers around me, I could mow down the monsters in the underground one by one. Their useless lives would dissolve into dust and it wouldn't make the least amount of difference in the grand scheme of things. And when I was done? Poof! Everyone would still be alive!

After all, what did I have to lose?

Who should I start with? Who should I kill? Asgore and Toriel were at the top of my list, but I didn't think I could take them on. I had to start with someone small and weak. Someone I could test my strength on. Someone whose death would be so satisfying. So sweet.

Someone like Doctor Alphys.

As I thought of the reptile, my anger for her resurfaced. That fraud of a doctor had been running experiments without even knowing what the heck she was doing. And then, when she messed up, she was too ashamed to tell anybody or try to do anything to fix it. She just holed up in her lab trying to pretend like nothing bad had happened while her little experiments ruined other peoples' lives. She had somehow managed to create me and she didn't even know what I was!

Yes. That slimy little lizard had lived unchecked for too long. It was time she finally faced up to her mistakes. She was the one responsible for my misery. Why not return the favor? And I wouldn't have to worry about her overpowering me. She was far too weak. She'd probably cower at the first sign of violence. And since she spent all her time in her lab, no one would be around to hear her scream.

With my target in mind, I plowed through the earth, letting my rage carry me forward. I bee-lined for Alphys's lab. When I got there, she was in the exact same place she had been when I had confronted her before: sitting at her desk watching cartoons. I surfaced behind her, pushing aside all the thoughts of horror at what I was about to do.

"Hey, Alphys," I growled softly. She jumped a little in her seat and whirled around, her eyes wide. "Remember me?"

"Wh-who's there? How did you get in? How-" She stopped when her searching eyes settled on me. "A... A flower?"

"Not just any flower," I said with a slight chuckle. "The flower you loaded with determination. The flower that you managed to bring to life. The flower that you forcefully gave this miserable existence to." I wanted her to know exactly what she had done to me. I wanted her to feel the guilt, the regret, the pain. I wanted her to be afraid.

"W-w-what?" she stuttered. "You mean..."

"That's right, Alphys. You did this to me. Your little experiment ruined the life of yet another person. You thought it stopped with all those monsters you melted?" I laughed. "Oh no, it gets so much worse. You see, I'm not just a flower you brought to life. I'm the prince. I'm Asriel Dreemurr. And you managed to stuff me into a stupid flower!"

Her eyes bulged, her mouth working uselessly. Her claws clicked together rapidly, unsure of how to process this new information. "Y-y-you're... But I... I didn't mean... I... What?"

"Oh, Alphys. I know you didn't intend to make any of this happen. But that doesn't change the fact that you did." Little white pellets formed in the air, circling the doctor. "And you cannot hide from your crimes forever." I grinned a hateful expression. Alphys started sweating, a wordless sound of fear issuing from her mouth, the beginning of a scream.

"Die," I spat. The pellets stopped their spinning and collapsed in on the doctor. She cried out in pain and I started laughing, summoning more bullets to seal her fate. I attacked again and again, each time hearing her scream and beg for mercy as her life depleted. I didn't care. I felt cold inside. Numb.

With a final wail, the battered doctor shimmered, her particles splitting apart from all the strain. In an instant, the lizard had dissolved into dust that whipped in the air before settling to the ground. I panted from the exertion, staring at nothing. I somehow felt... stronger. I had done it. I had killed her. She was dead. I had taken the life of another being.

Numb. I felt numb. There was no pain. There was no guilt. There was nothing. I laughed. It was a hollow sound. As empty as my soulless husk. Dust covered every inch of my body. I stared up at the ceiling and howled with terrible laugher. I was free.

" _You haven't seen the corruption that lies in the soul of every living person. It's there, and it taints this world until it pollutes everything that is beautiful."_

As the anger wore off, I found myself becoming more and more horrified with myself. Had I really done that? I just killed someone. That's not a small thing. I attacked Doctor Alphys and she died. Although I didn't actually feel particularly bad about doing it, my old morals screamed at me, telling me that there was something wrong about what I had done. But it really wasn't that terrible, was it? I was just going to reset everything anyways.

So why wasn't I resetting? The truth of the matter was that I didn't feel like it. Now that I had started this, morbid curiosity dictated that I finish it. What would it be like to kill people? To hurt them? Killing the defenseless doctor had almost been a little too easy. It wasn't satisfying. I almost wanted to try to attack someone who would fight back. But not someone who could kill me. That didn't seem particularly pleasant.

Contemplating who to kill disturbed me on a level I didn't fully comprehend. It was like choosing what chocolate to eat first, but with much more devastating results. This was wrong and I knew it. Yet somehow a part of me still wanted to go through with it.

I emerged from the lab in a daze. Most of the dust fell off the moment I went underground, so at least the evidence of what I had done wasn't obvious to anyone I might run in to. I wasn't really sure where I was going or what I was doing. Without paying attention, I found that I had instinctively made my way to the river's edge. It was the nearest spot where I liked to go to gather my thoughts.

The river person wasn't there when I first showed up, which gave me time to gaze at my reflection. The image of a killer leered back at me. I shivered. What had I done? Had I really descended so far that it no longer mattered to me if I killed or not? When I had refused to kill the humans on the surface, I had been so sure that causing them pain would be worse than getting myself killed. And now I had slaughtered another monster without a second thought.

I silently reminded myself that I wasn't Asriel anymore. Looking at the flower mirrored in the water was solid proof of that fact. And besides, Alphys had it coming. It wasn't like I had murdered an innocent person. It wasn't just my life she had toyed with. She had also royally screwed up the monsters that she'd turned into sludge. She wasn't guiltless. What I had done was justified. Wasn't it?

My contemplation was interrupted by the river person's sing song voice approaching. The monster didn't seem to be in any particular hurry, paddling forward at a slow, decisive pace. When the boat slid to a stop in front of me, I anticipated the river person's usual introduction of themselves. Instead, however, the figure leaned over the paddle and stared intently at me for a long moment, ceasing their babbling song.

"Hm," the hooded monster said at last. "The water is very dry today. That is bad luck." They straightened, turning back towards where the river emptied into darkness. "Where will we go today, young master? Wait. Do not tell me. I think I already know." I gawked in confusion. This was certainly different. Without thinking about it, I climbed aboard. I wanted to see where they would take me this time.

As the boat resumed its steady glide over the water, the river person began to hum under their breath. No lyrics this time. Just tuneless humming. It created a haunting melody when combined with the sound of the rushing water all around us. This was most certainly unusual. It was like the river person could sense what had just happened, or maybe they had picked up on my melancholy. After riding like this for a long while, the river person finally began adding lyrics to the song. I listened intently, now that I had words to distinguish from the music.

"Tra la la. The heart starts to struggle against the tide. Tra la la. Emotions sure are a magical ride. Tra la la. Right and wrong or wrong and right. Tra la la. The dustier doorway, the longer the fight." More nonsense. I guess I should have anticipated that. I felt my anger rising again. Why the heck was I riding on a boat with this idiot? The journey seemed to be taking longer than usual. Was there no end to this monotonous cavern?

"Where are you taking me?!" I demanded of the cloaked freak.

"Somewhere. Or is it nowhere? I cannot remember which it is. I suppose it makes no difference in the end."

I snarled in frustration. "Of course it makes a difference! What's the point of riding in a boat if we're not even going anywhere?!" They turned to me in a long, graceful movement.

"What is the point of riding in a boat if there is a destination?" they asked calmly. I glared back.

"If you have a goal, then at least you're going somewhere and doing something. Without that, we're just riding around in circles!"

"Then choose a destination," the river person said, returning my stare with empty void.

"Waterfall," I stated. I didn't really know what I would do there, but it was certainly better than floating around in the middle of la la land.

"Then we have arrived," they said without turning around. Strangely, the moment they said that, the tunnel opened up and a shoreline appeared. That was freakishly well timed. The boat ground to a halt and I jumped off without a word. "Goodbye, tra la la," the river person sang.

I grit my teeth in frustration. You know what? Screw it. I whirled around to face the monster. I wanted to knock that stupid cloak off his face. I summoned forth my magic, readying it to fire, but the water was empty, the river person gone.

" _Monsters aren't like that, though."_

" _No. You're right. They're a completely different sort of mess."_

Rocks and dirt slid past me as I plowed through the earth. I wasn't heading in any particular direction, which kind of proved the river person's point, but that just made me even more angry. A few monsters wandered around in Waterfall above me, but I didn't stop for any of them. Part of me wanted to kill them all, but they were completely innocent bystanders. It wasn't like they had done anything wrong. The person I really wanted to kill was Asgore. That great oaf had stood in my way one too many times, and though it had been nice watching Undyne beat him up, it would be so much more satisfying if I did the job myself. And I wouldn't spare him. No. He was beyond the point of sparing. Unfortunately, I also knew that I was too weak to even touch him. It was infuriating.

I wasn't sure where I was anymore. Without paying any real attention to my surroundings, I had gotten lost. I wasn't particularly familiar with Waterfall anyway. I spotted a sentry stand, so I started heading towards it, just to get an idea of where I was located. There were usually royal guards posted at these things, so if it really came down to it, I could ask them where to go.

When I got there, though, I recognized the grinning monster sitting behind the makeshift counter. It was that stupid skeleton again! It seemed I was cursed to constantly run into Sans. The fire of my rage rekindled, this time directed at the shrubby jerk. I could kill him. Just like I had killed Alphys. And maybe he would put up an actual fight, though I wasn't too sure about that. He looked pretty wimpy.

Sans glanced down from his car magazine the moment I came up to the surface. I hadn't expected him to notice me so quickly, but oh well. I didn't really want to kill him and leave. That was no fun. I wanted to talk with him first, let me see the fear in his eyes before he died. Just as I had with Alphys. "Howdy, Sans," I murmured darkly, a small smile appearing on my face.

"Heya," he responded, that calm grin standing out on his white face. "Haven't seen you 'round here before. 'Sup, little guy?"

I was about to respond with something witty, but a nagging thought suddenly occurred to me. Wasn't he supposed to be in his house right about this time? That's where he'd been the last reset. The timing wasn't exact, but it took a while to bake a pie. What was he doing all the way out here?

"Weren't you baking something?!" I blurted. His eyes narrowed the slightest amount and he looked somewhat amused.

"You been following me or something? That's a little creepy." He put down his magazine and leaned back, putting both hands behind his head casually. He winked at me. "The pie's in the oven. It won't be done for like another half hour."

"So you came all the way out here?"

"Hey, what can I say? I'm a busy guy. I've got a job to do."

I scowled. "Then what were you doing baking in the first place?!"

He seemed entirely unfazed by this. "I wanted some pie, and Grillby's doesn't have any. So I'm making my own. Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Ugh. I remembered why I hated this guy. His suave "I do what I want" attitude really pissed me off. That being said, was it really worth killing him over? As far as I knew he hadn't actually done anything wrong. He was a royal pain in the butt, sure, but his actions weren't exactly worthy of death.

"Hey, you OK there, buddy?" He asked suddenly, dropping his relaxed charade. His eyes knotted in concern. "You don't look so good. You're looking a little... 'bushed'." He winked again.

Was that supposed to be another joke? This guy... "Maybe you should come back with me to finish that pie. I could always use a little more 'flour'."

I glared at him. Tell another one and you're dead.

"Let me help you 'weed' out the 'root' of your problems. I be-'leaf' I know how I can help."

That's it. You die now.

Coldly, I summoned a ring of pellets and threw them at his stupid face. Faster than I had ever thought possible, he was suddenly standing to the side of the sentry stand and the pellets pinged off the wall behind where he had just been sitting. What?

"Whoa, there! Violence ain't necessary. I'm just joking with ya. Seriously, what's your problem?" I grit my teeth. How had he dodged that? Ugh. He did have a point, though. I had no solid motive to kill the guy, other than the fact that he annoyed the crap out of me. Part of me didn't care whether or not I had a reason. I could always just reset. Take out my anger, then start the timeline over. I wouldn't actually be harming anyone. Not in any lasting way.

Just then, a voice called from behind me. I turned to see Papyrus jogging towards us. "Sans!" he shouted. "What are you doing outside your station?!" Sans stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave a little shrug.

"Chatting with a flower," he said nonchalantly.

"What? Don't be silly! Everyone knows flowers don't talk! Except echo flowers, but those don't count! Nyeh heh!" The taller skeleton suddenly caught sight of me staring at him and stopped in his tracks.

"Howdy, Papyrus," I grinned.

"Oh my God it's a talking flower!"

"Told ya," Sans stated. He shifted his weight between feet. "What about you? How'd your cooking lesson go?" Papyrus instantly stood up straight, placing a hand on one hip while lofting a plate I hadn't noticed before with the other.

"Behold!" he boasted. The contents of the plate only vaguely resembled spaghetti. Remembering how he and Undyne had gone about creating the tomato sauce, I didn't even want to know what they had done to the rest of it to create such a culinary disaster.

"That looks, uh, pretty good, Papyrus. You gonna put it in the fridge with the others?" Sans was clearly trying to not hurt his brother's feelings.

Papyrus suddenly looked contemplative. "Actually, I still have to finish it," he said morosely. "Undyne got a phone call from Asgore and left in a heated rage. She didn't even tell me what was up. Such a sad time when she does not trust her troubles to me. Alas, what am I to do?"

Asgore called her? What did Asgore want with Undyne? I hadn't done anything to him this time. Fear filled me. Had he somehow discovered Alphys? That didn't seem like him. I could see him calling and being concerned when she didn't answer, but going to check up on her? He couldn't possibly know what I had done, could he?

Whatever the case might be, sticking around with the two skeletons didn't seem like a good idea. I still didn't have any solid goals in mind for what I wanted to do, but staying here was not an option. My blood-lust for Sans had strangely dissipated the moment Papyrus had shown up. Although Papyrus was an idiot, the idea of killing his brother in front of him bothered me. The poor fool didn't deserve that. I would have to get the shorter skeleton another time.

Sans and Papyrus were still chatting when I left. I didn't bother listening to the rest of their conversation. It didn't really interest me. Sans glanced down at me when I ducked below the rocks, but he made no move to stop me. Without a proper goal in mind, I moved on to some unknown destination, far away from the brothers.

I found that I was ashamed of myself. With all of my indecisiveness on whether or not I should kill, I had basically accomplished nothing so far. I had killed Dr. Alphys, but that was it. And considering how useless she was, it didn't really make that big a difference anyway. The river person was right. I really was heading nowhere. I needed to make a decision. Either I was going to kill people and see what happened or I was going to need to stick with my old good-for-nothing morals and try to solve everyone's problems. No more of this in-between crap.

While I was trying to find my way through Waterfall, I noticed more activity up above. It was like the time when I had gone missing and Asgore had sent his royal guards out looking for me. The amount of normal citizens had decreased, but the place was crawling with guards. I stopped when I spotted Undyne patrolling, clad in full armor. I moved beneath her feet and followed her. Maybe I could figure out what was going on.

Undyne certainly looked angry. I had to swim at a fairly fast pace to keep up with her as she practically ran through the underground. Her one eye was sharp, scanning every nook and cranny of the caverns she passed. Her teeth were grit in a permanent scowl.

After a while of me following her, Papyrus jogged up, looking slightly panicked. "Undyne, I got your message!" he called. "Is it true? Is she-?"

"Yes," Undyne snarled. Then she sighed, looking abruptly sad. "Yes, Papyrus. Alphys is dead." So someone HAD noticed! I sank a few inches further into the earth despite the fact that I knew that I was safe so long as I was underneath them.

"What... happened?" Papyrus seemed hesitant, dropping all of his normal bravado.

"We're not entirely sure. Asgore found that someone had trashed his favorite garden. He went to Alphys's lab to check her security cameras and see who could have done such a thing, but when he got there, all he found of Alphys was a pile of dust." She looked away. Was she... crying? "The security cameras picked up the guy who did it. The bizarre thing is that he looked like one of Asgore's flowers, but with a face."

Oh crap, I didn't know there were surveillance cameras!

"That's weird. Sans was talking to a flower like that just a little bit ago," Papyrus interjected.

"I know," Undyne said. "I already talked with him on the phone. Seems that flower attacked him, too, but then it ran off the moment you showed up. All of Waterfall is on high-alert. He should still be in the area. And when I get my hands on him..." She growled deep in her throat, clenching her fist.

"Oh no! It attacked Sans?! Stupid brother, he didn't say a thing about it to me!" Papyrus seemed legitimately perturbed by this. "It's weird, though. I'm pretty sure I've never seen that flower before, but it knew my name."

"Sans said the same thing. He seemed to think the flower had been following him for a while. Not only did it know his name, it also knew exactly what he had been up to. We have to be careful. This flower guy apparently moves underground which means we might not be able to see him."

Papyrus stopped dead in his tracks. Then, strangely, he looked down, his eyes somehow managing to lock directly onto me. He couldn't possibly know where I was, could he? I froze. His gaze seemed to pierce the very soil. The moment passed and Papyrus looked away, catching up with Undyne again.

"Good thing he's not here under our feet right now! Imagine if he were listening to this very conversation! That would just be embarrassing! Nyeh heh!" His voice faded as the two of them continued their patrol ahead of me.

What the heck just happened?! I didn't think Papyrus could see me, but just in case, I should try to avoid him. It would probably be best to avoid his garbage brother, too. Sans had proven to be equally capable of finding me when I thought I was hidden.

I turned and slid the other direction. This entire timeline had proven to be an absolute waste. I couldn't really do anything now that the entire Underground was searching for me. Really, I should just start over. But I wanted to try something first.

When I had fought Asgore previously, I had been in an emotional rage. I hadn't used any strategy, simply launched all my attacks rapidly from the same angle. Granted, I had also been trying to get myself killed at the time. I wanted to face him again. Maybe I could actually get him to fight back. Then I could really try my own strength against his. I already knew that I couldn't die, my determination was too strong for that. So why not? It sure beat sifting through all the other monsters and trying to decide which ones were worthy of death or not.

Having a solid destination and goal in mind did wonders for me, sparking up my determination again. It made me feel alive. With the renewed energy, I headed straight for the castle. Asgore was going down!

" _I'm glad we're here now, though. Together we can rid this world of hatred and evil. Monsters and Humans will finally live together in peace."_

It took me a frustratingly long time to find Asgore. He wasn't actually in the castle like I had expected him to be. When I did locate him, he was in Alphys's lab, hovering over the shoulder of two smaller monsters that probably worked in the core. The lights were off and they were all pouring over a gigantic computer screen that had been divided up into a large number of smaller segments, each showing the location of a different area in the Underground.

I tried to get a better look at the screen so I could figure out where some of those cameras were so I could avoid them in the future, but it was hard to do while remaining below the floor with Asgore's hulking frame blocking most of my view. I had rather hoped to catch the king alone, but oh well. It made sense that he would be actively searching for me, considering what I had done to his Royal Scientist. They had clearly swept the dust from the floor, but traces of it remained in the crevices between tiles.

Now how to get Asgore alone... I was considering a plan of trying to lure the other two monsters outside somehow, but chances were that Asgore would go with them. Idiot. No, I was far too impatient after trekking all this way to be subtle. The poor souls would have to die.

It was a piece of cake since they weren't expecting me to appear behind them so suddenly. I quickly surrounded them with energy bullets and attacked. They were much easier to kill than Alphys had been, going down in only two or three hits each. They barely had enough time to scream in surprise before exploding into clouds of dust. That instantly got the goat king's attention and he whirled around, summoning his blood-red trident. I probably could have attacked him while his back was turned, too, but that took most of the satisfaction out of his death.

"Hiya!" I cooed with false cheer.

There it was. The anger. The hate. The frustration. Asgore's nostrils were flared and his brow wrinkled in a knotted glare. "Why?" he breathed. "Why?!" The final one came out with a deafening roar. I only smiled back, soaking in his hatred. That's right, father. Now you know how it feels. Now you know what it's like to lose everything.

"Oh, you foolish old man," I chuckled. "You wouldn't begin to understand even if I explained it to you in the simplest of terms." He rammed the butt of his trident into the ground hard enough to shatter tiles.

"You. You told Alphys that you were my son. But you are not him. Asriel would never harm another monster, even if it meant sacrificing his own life for it." The words hurt more than they should have. My face drooped the slightest bit, turning my false smile into a sad one.

"That was the old Asriel," I spoke softly. "The one that died when I refused to fight those humans." I couldn't tell what his reaction was. He was panting heavily from his rage, but he didn't move from his position. "I am a new Asriel. One that was reborn as a flower through Dr. Alphys's pathetic experiments. Face it, Asgore. Your son is dead. I have his memories, but beyond that, I can never be the person I was before."

I let the room drop into silence, waiting for the king's reaction. With the only light coming from the computer screen behind him, Asgore's face was in full shadow. "Good," the old goat muttered at last. "Then I will have no remorse when I kill you!"

Abruptly, he swung into motion, slashing his trident at me full-force. I had to duck below the ground in order to avoid the unexpected attack. A ring of fire leaped from the tips of the spear, blasting aside bits of junk Alphys had stacked against the wall. All the papers on her desk exploded into flames, turning to charcoal that drifted in the air. I swam beneath Asgore's feet, surfacing again so I could summon more bullets at him.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though I could not attack and move at the same time. It was a frustrating disability since it would have been so much easier to kill him if I didn't have to worry about him killing me back. Asgore caught sight of the glowing beads of energy at the last second and whipped around to bat them aside with his trident. In one fluid motion, he brought his other arm up, throwing out a wall of pure flame in my direction. One of my leaves got singed before I could duck out of the way.

I started laughing uncontrollably, throwing another swarm of pellets at him from a new angle. He was fighting back! I had finally got old King Fluffybuns to use his full force against me. The thrill of the fight was strangely freeing, even as I danced with the flickering fires of death.

A wave of my attacks finally hit their target and the king growled at the pain, but it was clear that I would need to do a lot more damage than that to take the big guy down. His trident came point-first at my face, wreathed in fire. I dove to the safety of the dirt and immediately moved to a new location behind him, feeling the heat as weapon met floor only a few inches above my head.

I needed a new strategy. He was getting faster at spotting me the moment I resurfaced, predicting my movements. One false move and I'd be dead. All it took was one well-place flame and I would be turned to soot.

I waited beneath the surface for a moment, watching and thinking. Asgore clutched his trident close to him, ready to swing. His head swiveled back and forth, anticipating where I might pop up. I was a little bit frustrated at the lack of plants anywhere in the room that I could use to my advantage.

"Come out, come out..." he muttered in a low snarl. I maneuvered to situate myself underneath Alphys's desk for cover. Once I was free of the soil, I summoned a ring of pellets surrounding him.

"Dodge this," I chuckled. The king tried to swat the attack away, but there were too many of them coming from too many directions at once. He grunted as the glowing seeds collapsed on their circle, cutting through his armor to hit his soul.

With a pained growl, he held up his hand, engulfing the room in flames. His counter-attack was far flung as he tried to knock aside furniture and other trash to reveal my location. I howled with laughter before returning below-ground. The desk I had been hiding under was blasted back by Asgore's magic and a resounding crash followed as the stack of dishes that had been balanced atop it shattered across the floor.

I surfaced behind him and repeated my last attack. It seemed to be the most effective. Asgore predicted the move though and swung the trident full-circle, dissipating pellets as he went. In an instant, he had recovered and located me. One of the points of his trident nicked me as I tried to dodge his attack, tearing a hole in one of my petals. Pain went through my system and I cried out in agony.

"No!" I screamed internally. I wasn't ready to die yet! I didn't want to start all over! I wanted to kill him! I was determined to kill him!

I resurfaced a few feet away and launched a new attack at him in a blind rage. The king swatted them away, though one grazed his shoulder slightly. He jerked one arm up and suddenly a ring of fire erupted around me. I was too late to react and searing heat engulfed me. I cried out in frustration, feeling my body become consumed by the flames and my vision filled with blinding light. No! Not Yet! Noooo!

" _Yes, Asriel. We will finally do it. We will eliminate everything that is wrong in this world. Everything."_

I clutched at myself, feeling as though I was still on fire and in pain, though the actual ordeal was over. It felt as though I had just awoken from a horrible nightmare and the phantom pains of dying still carried through to haunt me. I breathed heavily for a moment, checking to see if there was any lasting damage. There wasn't. I was whole.

After my moment of panic wore off, I began to notice that my surroundings were different. I had thought I would end up in the throne room like I usually did, but instead it looked like I was back in Waterfall. What?

Footsteps approached and I quickly burrowed into the rock and watched as Undyne ran by, decked out in her armor. I stared after her dumbfounded for a moment. Had I not started over all the way back at the beginning this time? Undyne looked exactly the same as when I had left Waterfall to search out Asgore. It appeared as though I had managed to reset time just far enough to undo the battle with my father. How had I done that?

Whatever. If I was right, it meant that I had another chance to try and kill Asgore. I grinned, chuckling under my breath. This determination stuff rocked. And now that I knew where the king was this time, I wouldn't have to traipse all around the castle in search of him. It was a little annoying that I started all the way back in Waterfall, but it was better than starting in the throne room again.

When I got to Alphys's lab again, the two monsters were there again, sitting in the dark room staring at the television. Asgore was pacing back and forth while they did all the work, scanning the screens for any sign of activity. I growled in frustration. I had to kill those stupid idiots again. And this time I had to do so without getting noticed by the king.

I surfaced between the massive machine holding the screen and where Asgore stood so I could kill off the other monsters with ease. Pellets formed and destroyed the two bystanders in an instant. It was a little strange noting how disconnected I was becoming each time I killed. It hardly even mattered to me anymore. The king cried out at the deaths of the monsters in the room and summoned his trident, scanning the room for me.

"Flower. I know you're there. Come out to where I can see you," he growled. I chuckled before responding with a wave of bullets directed at his face. His eyes went wide for a second, but his reaction speed allowed him to slash the attack out of the air. "Come out and talk to me, you coward!"

I laughed darkly. "What's the point of talking, Dad?" I spat the last word out, letting the emphasis of it sink in. The king fell silent, growing cold.

"Don't you dare disrespect the memory of my son by using his name as your own. Whoever you are, you could never live up to the person my son was." Ooh, burn. Asgore was moving, walking calmly through the lab, searching for my hiding place. He spotted me the moment he came around the corner I was hiding behind and I shot more energy at him before ducking into the ground to find something else I could hide behind. I popped up behind a bag of dogfood stashed in a corner of the room.

"Do you remember the time Chara and I accidentally used buttercups instead of butter that one time and you got really sick?" I was taunting him, bringing up memories that only I would know. "Or how about the time when you and I went fishing and accidentally caught a monster on our line and Mom got really mad at us? Or the time-"

"Stop!" He interrupted. "Enough! I can't take this! You are not him! You cannot be him!"

I continued with a wicked grin on my face. "Or the time when you tried to make dinner for Mom, but you messed up the recipe, so you fed it all to me before she got home so she wouldn't know? That was always our little secret. That sauce was disgusting, by the way."

The goat king roared in disbelief, sending a wave of fire in the direction he could hear my voice. I managed to pull myself below the tiled floors just before the flames hit, knocking dishes to the ground and setting the furniture alight. "Why?!" He demanded. "If you are really him, why are you doing this? Why did you kill Alphys? Why have you attacked innocent people? Why, Asriel? What has happened to you?"

I came up a few feet in front of him and looked up into his eyes. He was crying. I smiled innocently. "I don't have a soul anymore," I stated with a false cheer. "Alphys took that away from me when she revived me and stuffed me into a flower. That's why I killed her, y'know. This is all her fault." Asgore looked betrayed as he gazed down at me.

"But she revived you. That is a good thing, is it not?"

I scowled at him. "How would you like to wake up one day to find that you can't move your arms and legs because you don't have any?! How would you like to look down at yourself and find that your entire body has been replaced by a stinking flower?!" Tears fought to escape my eyes. "How would you like it if you woke up to a world where everyone has forgotten you? Where your own family is broken apart and there's not a dang thing you can do about it?!"

The king seemed taken aback by my burst of rage. I continued in a softer tone. "No, Dad. It's not a good thing that I'm back." Asgore stood in stunned silence while I tried to regain my composure. Somehow I had ended up having another emotional outburst. I should be killing this guy, not gushing to him like a little kid.

"But... But... Now that you are back... We could live together again... We could be happy... We could be a family again." Strangely, the king was crying, too.

I laughed, starting as a low chuckle that elevated to a sound that was almost maniacal. "You think that if your son came back that things would magically fall back into place again?! The world doesn't work that way! You still have to face the consequences of your actions. I've already talked to Toriel. She hates you! She isn't coming back for anything!" I shook my head in hopelessness. "No, Dad. Things can never go back to the way they were. It is far too late for that."

The king looked genuinely hurt. Like he was on the verge of collapsing to his knees. Sometimes words could be just as effective at tearing someone down as bullets were. His hand trembled where it held on to his magical trident. I could just barely make out his features in the flickering firelight, his eyes wide in emotional agony.

"And you," I continued. "You've murdered, too, you know. Six human children? Sound familiar? You've been reaping their souls and you don't even want to use them! What kind of a sick monster does that?! You have everything you need to break the barrier and free everyone, but you won't." For once, Asgore actually seemed to be listening to me. Oh, of course. Now I finally managed to get through his thick skull. Right when I was about to kill the old man.

"Give me those souls. Let me go to the surface, and I'll collect the last soul, and I'll destroy the barrier. Since you're too weak to do anything about it anyway, I'll be the one to free all the monsters!"

Suddenly, Asgore shook himself out of his guilt, awoken by something in the tone of my voice. "N-no," he stuttered. "I... I can't let you... It will destroy you! Asriel! My son!" I laughed again.

"Destroy me?! Ha! I'm already broken beyond repair. Face it, Asgore. I may have your son's memories, but the person who was Asriel Dreemurr is dead! All that's left is this soulless husk of a flower." I grinned. The last time I had said something similar to that, he had attacked me. I prepared myself, tensing to move the moment he swung.

To my astonishment, Asgore dropped his trident, letting it dissipate into the air. "I cannot believe that," he murmured. "If you're in there, Asriel, listen to me. Heed the words of your father." He looked directly into my eyes, pleading with me. "The Asriel I knew would never harm another soul. He was innocent. He was free. If you really are him, think about what you are doing." He smiled, looking hopeful. "Come back to me, my son."

I scowled at him. "What did I just tell you, you moron?! I'm not Asriel anymore! Asriel is dead! Now give me those souls! You want the barrier broken, don't you?! Let me do it! Let me retain at least a little bit of my dignity knowing that I was the one who freed all monsters from the Underground! Please! Don't let me die as a stinking, stupid, good-for-nothing flower!" I was crying again. I couldn't help myself.

The king dropped to his knees. "Oh, my son," he whispered. "I'm so sorry." He leaned forward, arms held wide, ready to embrace me.

"Get away from me!" I shouted. I dove into the ground and surfaced a few feet back. "Get away from me, you stupid old man!" I probably could have taken the opportunity to hit him while his guard was down, but I found that I was crying too hard for that.

He turned to the side, staring into the darkness. The embers in the room were dying down and I could no longer make out his face. "Please forgive me for what I have done. I know that I have acted like a fool. I did not intend for any of this to happen. All I wanted was to give everyone hope again. When you died, it was like the whole world had ended. When everything is taken away from you, where do you begin to pick up the pieces? Truthfully, I do not want power. I do not want war. All I ever wanted was to have my children back. To be a family again." He sighed deeply. "I cannot give you those souls, Asriel. Now that I have you, I do not wish to lose you all over again. You claim that Asriel is dead, but I can see him in you. It's buried deep, but it is there. So please. Let us put this misery aside. Let us return in peace."

I growled, feeling my rage burn inside. "You stupid idiot!" I roared. I summoned forth the strongest attack I could, throwing all of my hurt and pain at my father. The magic hit him square in the face, his eyes wide in shock.

"Asriel," he murmured. "My son..." His form began to waver. "Do not be afraid, my child..." His words were growing slower, shakier. "You've got to stay determined..." A faint smile crossed his lips and the light caught a single tear that ran down his cheek.

To my horror and frustration, Asgore dissipated into dust. His soul hovered in the air for a trembling moment before it, too, shattered to a thousand pieces. I stared at the pile of dust that was all that remained of my father. This was what I had come to do, but now that I had succeeded, I did not feel any better about it. Instead, I felt sick. Horrified.

In agony, I howled to the shadowed room. I cried out wordless pleas to the empty darkness that I knew would not respond. It wasn't fair! Life wasn't fair! Why did everything have to turn out like this?! Why?! Why?!

When I had finally cried myself dry, I let myself collapse to the floor, shuddering all over. I felt my own resolve start to slip away. What was I doing?! What the hell was I doing?! I pulled my roots from the ground and curled into a tight ball. This was not the way I should do things. This was not how it should end. This was all wrong!

I squeezed my eyes shut and silently resolved to myself that this was not the end. I would go back. I would do better. I was not going to die as a good-for-nothing flower! No matter what! When I was ready, I poured my determination into resetting back to the throne room to try again. And this time, I would be the hero everyone deserved. I would not let the life of Asriel Dreemurr die in shame.


	6. Reset 6: What Friends are For

" _Come on, Chara! Let's go! We'll be late for dinner!"_

" _..."_

" _Chara? What's wrong? What are you doing all the way out here by yourself?"_

" _It's nothing, Asriel."_

Melancholy continued to fill me as my vision returned. Golden light filled my eyes, confirming that I was back in the throne room. I sighed. Part of the problem with resetting was that I always had to figure out what I was going to do next. It was so easy to say things like, "I'll be the hero everyone wants," and an entirely different story trying to come up with a plan for how to actually accomplish said goal.

The nice thing about being in the peaceful garden of the throne room was that it made for a great location to stop and think. Certainly a better place than the dark lab filled with the dust of my father. I shuddered. It served as a reminder of what I was trying to avoid this time around.

I was going to do it this time. I would solve everyone's problems. I just had to come up with a proper plan. When I had tried to be friends with people before, I had started with Undyne and had showed up at her house unannounced and without any idea what I was going to say. That went on my list of bad ideas. I also wasn't sure how keen I was on the idea of trying to become friends with everyone. Solve all their problems, maybe, but befriending them? That wasn't likely, especially with how difficult it was for me to care about anyone else with my being soulless and all.

I winced at that thought. There was still a nagging curiosity in the back of my head that wanted to see what would happen if I slaughtered the whole lot of them. I forcefully shoved that side of me back to the dark corner where it belonged. I wouldn't kill people. Not this time. Not ever.

I could always hang out with Papyrus again, but that would have to wait until after he and Undyne were done trashing that poor kitchen. Besides, I wasn't entirely sure how to get the idiotic skeleton some friends yet. I didn't know the cure for stupid. Plus I wanted to avoid his brother. Maybe I would come back to that issue at a later point in time.

Running a list of all the monsters I currently knew through my head landed me with a lot of dead-ends. Asgore needed his family back, but I'd already failed at that particular problem, so I'd have to post-pone that one. Toriel had the exact same problem. She could always fix it by coming back, but she was far too stubborn to do that.

Doctor Alphys... was Alphys. She really needed to tell people the truth about what she'd done, but that might get her killed. Again. But not by me this time. So I could see why she was being on the cowardly side, but until she started telling people what happened, she would just be content to lock herself up in her lab for the rest of eternity. I could probably figure out what to do with her if I got to know her a little better, maybe watch her for a while, but I couldn't shake the memory of what it was like to kill her. For that reason alone, I didn't want to go straight to her lab and make amends just yet.

I really wanted to get on Undyne's good side, but the fact of the matter was that I didn't know her well enough yet to figure out what she needed. I didn't fancy the idea of stalking her underneath the ground until a plan suddenly popped into my head, either, but that might be what I had to do. Whatever I decided, it would have to wait until she wasn't with Papyrus. I needed to catch her sometime when she was outside of her house so that way I wouldn't be barging in on her like I had before.

And that pretty much summed up all the monsters I actually knew. I mean, Papyrus had introduced me to people around Snowdin, but knowing their names is different from knowing them. Besides, everyone had already forgotten who I was due to the reset. And then there were those guards that had brought me to the castle that one time, but... Eh... There was also that stupid river person, but that monster was a literal mystery in every way. What I really needed to do was to go out and talk to people, introduce myself to them, get to know them, that kind of thing.

The best place to do that would probably be that Hotel apartment building thing I had seen before. That place was loaded with monsters bustling around and I could always claim to be from Waterfall or Snowdin if anyone asked. I pulled myself underground and began making my way towards my new plan of attack, but I stopped briefly when I reached New Home.

Asgore was there. He was putting away his watering can, having just finished going through the house watering the many pots of golden flowers. I wasn't sure why I stopped to watch him. I had better things to do. But there was something about seeing a man you had just killed walking about, peacefully minding his own business as though nothing had happened. And for him, it really hadn't happened. As far as he knew, today was just another normal, nice day.

I shook myself from my reverie and moved on to my destination. There really wasn't any point in spending more time with that useless man. He'd be there when I got back, doing the same sort of pointless chores around the house like he always did. Well. Like he did when I wasn't going around attacking people.

When I finally got to the Hotel, I suddenly found myself at a loss for how to proceed. My plan kind of ended with "go to the hotel and meet people." It didn't include how to go about making that happen. Should I just pop up and introduce myself to random people? Yeah, like that wasn't incredibly awkward. Meeting new people and getting to know them used to be easy before I was a flower, but I wasn't sure how much of that was because I was the prince so most people knew who I was anyway. Now I was a soulless nobody who had to force myself to talk to people most of the time.

I found a monster who was hanging out in a corner sipping something from a large Styrofoam cup that looked like it had been doused in glitter. The monster was one of those weird polygon monsters made from what appeared to be large multi-colored geometric shapes fused together. I surfaced a few feet away from him and cleared my throat softly to get his attention.

"Excuse me," I squeaked, "I'm new around here. Um. What is this place?" My unsure, high-pitched voice sounded pathetic in my ears. Ugh. The monster looked down at me with star-shaped eyes, taking a long drink from their cup.

"Oh! Hello there, Mr. Flower! I didn't see you there! So you're new, huh? I'm surprised you haven't heard of the great MTT resort before! It's the best place in the Capital! Where have you been living? Under a rock?" I gave him a flat expression.

"We all live under a rock," I intoned.

"Oh, yes, quite right. What a tragedy. I flat out forgot. This place is so great that it makes all your problems seem to go away!" I raised an eyebrow. Sure. "It used to be an apartment building, but since Mettaton showed up, he's transformed this place into the paradise hall you see before you!" More like nightmare hall. "If you wish to make a reservation, you'll want to talk to that lady over there." He gestured over to a counter where a giant hand monster tapped her fingers impatiently on the surface in front of her.

I sighed. Right. Well. That didn't really help me at all. I didn't want to make a reservation. This place had been so much better when it was just an apartment building. I moved away from the unhelpful monster, only realizing after I was below the surface that I had forgotten to thank the guy for the information, or even acknowledge him at all before I left. Whoops.

Although remaining underground wasn't the most comfortable position to be in, I liked being able to watch people without them knowing I was there. I considered taking the place of one of the potted plants in the corner and watching people from there, but it was really hard to hear conversations from across the room. However, the more time I spent following monsters around, the more I realized that this was a huge waste in time. The only thing interesting that monsters continually talked about was some new TV star named Mettaton. Judging by the multiple posters plastered on the walls, Mettaton was apparently the weird robot box thing displayed there.

There was one monster who was trying to mop the floor but was continually leaving behind a trail of ooze everywhere he went. He was amusing to watch as he mopped himself in little circles. I shook my head at the horrible stupidity.

I was getting ready to leave the hotel and give up on the entire monster race when the front door slammed open. All the employees in the area instantly snapped to attention as the robot movie star Mettaton rolled in. For being so famous, he was certainly very ugly and clunky. I gave him a befuddled look, though no one could see me while I was still underground. If what people were saying held true, then this guy had the ability to change things around here. As much as I hated the idea, I would probably need to get to know the guy if I wanted to make any decent impact on this place.

"Hello, darlings!" he sang, waving his arms dramatically in the air. "Today I have envisioned a fantabulous new look for the southern wall of this glorious lobby." All eyes turned towards the entrance to the hotel. The wall was mostly blank, but compared to the decorations littering all the other walls, the fact that there was nothing on it was a sweet relief. Apparently Mettaton did not agree.

"Oh yes," the metal box continued, "the perfect thing to complete this wall? Why. What better thing to suit the front entrance than my glamorous self? Yes. I demand it. I want an artist in here immediately to paint a magnificent mural of me up there. It must be done! I shall provide this room with the most beautiful thing imaginable!" He posed in front of the doorway, as if trying to spread his self-centered delusions to the rest of the monsters.

To my great surprise, it seemed to actually work. A few of the employees immediately whipped out cell phones and started frantically making calls. I caught a glimpse of one cat girl swooning near the door. Wow. Had monsters always been this stupid and gullible? Why couldn't I get people to follow me like this giant rectangle could? Time to learn all his secrets.

I popped up beside him casually. "Howdy!" I said in a bright, cheery tone. "You're Mettaton, right?" The robot didn't even look at me before turning away.

"All fans should meet with my manager before getting my autograph," he muttered dismissively. I scowled before planting myself directly in his path.

"Hey, buddy. I'm talking to you. I don't want your stupid autograph or any kind of crap like that. I have a proposition for you." He stopped dead in his tracks, looking miffed. I heard surprised whispers come from some of the other folks in the lobby.

"A proposition, you say?" He planted a fist on the side of his metal box where his waist should be, looming over me dangerously. "Let me guess. You want to be my co-star, don't you?" I took a deep breath, glad that he was finally focused on me. Then, abruptly, his attitude changed and he held up his hands in imitation of a gasp, the lights of his face twinkling between colors.

"Oh! My goodness! Of course! You're a talking flower! How could I have missed such an obvious fact? I have never seen something so unique! Yes! You are precisely what the fans need!" He posed dramatically, resting one hand on his breast while the other flourished in the air. "Now introducing... Mettaton and his newest side-kick, Floria the Fantastic Flower!"

What. What in the world was he on about?

He spun to my side, resting an arm around me, pulling me to him. "Imagine it, darling! It would be the perfect addition to my otherwise splendid performance! You and me! There would be adventure! Romance! Drama! Everything a good story needs! I positively need you for my show!"

"Uhhh..." I muttered, unsure of how to respond. We were drawing a crowd and it was making me nervous.

"Not," he said with a sudden tone shift, shoving heavily on the back of my head so my face nearly kissed the floor. I caught myself in time and blinked, looking up at the robot. He leaned in close, but spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

"Listen, darling, I'm a one-man show. I am and always will be the only star the Underground needs. Whatever proposition you have, I don't need it. Now I run a very tight schedule and you are in my way. Run along, please." He turned to leave with a terse wave. "Do speak with my manager if you need anything. I'm sure they'll file your comments away along with the hundreds of others I get from nobodies like you all the time." I glared at the back of his head. What a jerk! Why in the world did anyone like this guy?!

I watched him wheel into the kitchen area and heard him exclaim in horror, followed by what sounded like someone whimpering. Clearly, I was not the only monster to suffer at his hands. I ground my teeth, unnerved that a guy like that could hold so much sway over all the other monsters in the Underground.

Some of the people in the room laughed to themselves, talking in low whispers about how some moron had tried to speak to Mettaton. Pretty soon, they all returned to what they had been doing. Obviously they were used to such things happening around the movie star. I glowered at them.

It would probably be a service to everyone if I eliminated the narcissistic rectangle. With his demanding attitude and impossibly stupid visions for the world, he was a one-way ticket to disaster. I was a little bit surprised that I had never really heard of him before, considering all the damage he seemed to be doing. And now that I did know about him, I wanted him gone. Unfortunately, I had already sworn not to kill anyone this time around. I grit my teeth in frustration. He was very suddenly at the top of my list and I was extremely tempted to go back on my promise. No one knew about that promise but me, right? Would it really hurt that bad to kill one person?

I shook my head. No. I couldn't kill him. Not yet. Maybe another time. But not now. I had already decided that at the beginning of this reset. Although, technically what I had said was that I would solve everyone's problems this time around, and killing the robot would certainly solve a lot of those... I shoved the thought away. No killing. Not this time, anyway.

This reset was certainly proving to be the most difficult for me. I had no good plan and had a whole lot of dead-ends and limitations. I hated it. But for whatever reason, the challenge of it all fueled my determination, pushing me forward. I was going to succeed at this. No matter what. I would fulfill every monster's hopes and dreams, and I would do so without harming a single soul.

" _Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can go ahead and tell me about it. I'm your best friend, remember?"_

" _I don't think you'd understand, Asriel. You're too innocent and nice."_

Enough time had passed that I wanted to check and see if Undyne and Papyrus were done with their 'cooking lesson' yet. And even if they weren't, watching them was bound to be more amusing than trying to learn anything about the idiots up at the Capital. I decided to give the River Person a miss today. Who knew what that unpredictable monster would do this time. So instead, I went the long way to Waterfall.

I was just in time to catch sight of Papyrus strolling away from Undyne's house. He was practically beaming while he carried away a large plate of spaghetti. Thankfully, Undyne had followed him outside and was shouting farewells to him. I waited until Papyrus leaped across a lengthy gap of water and was long out of earshot before surfacing next to Undyne.

"Hiya!" I chirped. She blinked, looking around for the source of the noise. Finally she caught sight of me by her feet and looked down to meet my gaze.

"Uh... Hi there, little guy! What can I do for you?" For the first time ever since I knew the fish lady, she actually seemed happy to see me. A wide smile split her face, displaying her sharply pointed teeth. It was a pleasant surprise.

"Hi. Um. I'm new around here, and I don't really know many people, so I was hoping to introduce myself!" I hesitated a second. "You're Undyne, right?"

She smirked and eased into a casual stance, resting one hand on her hip. "Yup! The one and only! Welcome to Waterfall!" I found that I was also relaxing. Now that she wasn't a blaze of anger, she was actually pretty easy to talk to.

"Cool! I've heard a lot about you! Do you think you could show me around a little?"

"Heh. Sure! You've come to the right person! Nobody knows their way around Waterfall like I do!" She moved past me towards the rest of Waterfall and gestured with one arm. "Right this way!"

I grinned to myself and dove into the ground so I could follow her, resurfacing anytime she stopped to explain anything. This way I would hopefully accomplish two things at once: getting to know Undyne and getting to know Waterfall. It was perfect.

Undyne was showing me the snail farm her neighbors ran when she paused, glancing down at me. "Say, what's your name, anyway?"

"Uh..." I was back to this conundrum again. As much as I hated it, I still hadn't managed to come up with anything better than the name Sans had given me all those time-lines ago. I was getting kind of used to the name anyway. Oh well. "I'm Flowey," I said with a grimace. "Flowey the flower."

"Ha! Sounds like something Papyrus would come up with!" She laughed to herself before catching herself. "Er, not like that's a bad thing. Flowey's a perfect name for a flower. Anyway, let me introduce you to Napstablook. He's the one who runs this farm now that his parents and cousin are gone." She reached down and grabbed a hold of me by the stem, yanking me from the ground. I cried out in surprise, flailing in the air. Undyne glanced down at me, realizing what she'd done.

"Oh. Uh. Whoops. Sorry. Guess I should have warned you first. Thought you might like a lift." I glared at her. "How do you move, anyway? You don't have any feet."

"I can move underground," I stated with a flat look. "It's magic."

"Ah. Well then. How about I carry you? That way I can see you and so I don't lose you." I sighed before consenting. I really hated being carried around, but if it made her happy, then whatever. I could deal with it. I just hoped that she didn't accidentally crush me or something like that. I had to remind myself that she had proven to be stronger than Asgore.

She moved on, knocking on the door of one of the houses on the farm. "Napstablook! Are you home? Hello!" After a moment, a white, incorporeal figure phased through the door. I blinked in surprise. It was a ghost! Those were rare.

"Oh... Um... Hi Undyne... Did you need me for something?" He spoke very softly, looking like he was ready to shy back and retreat to the safety of his home any second.

"Yeah, I wanted you to meet someone! This here's Flowey!"

"Hi there," I said with a small wave of a leaf.

The ghost looked at me with a surprised expression. "Oh... Hello... I'm sorry... I didn't see you there... Oh... You must feel bad... Oh..." He shrunk down a little.

"No, no! It's OK! I'm small, so I'm used to it!" I frantically tried to reassure the ghost. What was his problem? Geez.

"Oh... I didn't know there were Flower Monsters... I guess it makes sense considering how many types of monsters there are... Um... Oh no... I hope I didn't say anything offensive... I've just never heard of anything like you before..."

I gave him a wry smile, trying to not lose my patience. "I'm one of a kind," I stated. Undyne gave me a shocked look.

"Really?! Dude, that totally rocks!" I winced. If only she knew how much it really, really didn't.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you, um..." I hesitated at his name, trying to remember how to pronounce it. "Nabs-a-book," I attempted.

"Close enough!" Undyne exclaimed with a smirk. The ghost shuffled uncomfortably for a moment.

"Well," he said softly, "You're welcome to come in... if you want to... But if not... that's ok, too..." I gave an awkward grin. I didn't particularly want to spend too much time with this guy, but I also had to keep in mind that I was supposed to be befriending these people. I was a little indecisive about whether I actually wanted to accept his offer or not. It seemed like a huge waste of time to me, but so far everything I had accomplished thus far this reset had proven to be a huge waste of time.

Thankfully, Undyne came to the rescue and made a decision for me. "Nah," she said off-handedly. "Sorry, Blook. Not this time. I told Flowey here that I'd give him the Waterfall Grand Tour. You wanna come?" She tried to give Napstablook a reassuring look.

"Oh... Um... No, that's ok... I'd just get in your way... I don't want to be a nuisance... You guys have fun... I'll be here if you need me... Or if... you don't..." He shyly retreated through the door. Well that was awkward. Undyne gave me a huge grin.

"Anyway, that's Nabstablook! He's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him. Punk could use a little more self-confidence if you ask me, but hey. To each his own." She turned and marched away from the little farm. The rest of the journey through Waterfall was fairly uneventful. There wasn't a whole lot in the place. Just a bunch of fields of echo flowers, swampy marshes, and tight, dark corridors. Undyne kept up a nice, friendly chatter about which places were her favorite spots and what she liked to do.

As far as getting to know the fish monster went, I found that she wasn't quite as high-strung as I had originally assumed her to be. I must have simply caught her at bad times before, times when she was angry. She did seem to like beating things up, though. The more I listened to her stories, the more I was fairly certain that she picked fights just for the fun of it and not actually because she had any hateful vengeance or anything like that.

Despite Undyne's tour of the place, I was still pretty lost about where anything was in Waterfall. There were too many twists and turns at random intervals and most of it was too dark to see, anyway. One thing could be said for the flooded caverns, though, they certainly were beautiful in their own way. With the luminescent crystals reflecting on the misty water, it created a surreal sort of look. Something that I never really noticed while traveling underground.

At last, we finally made it to the room with a giant neon sign indicating that we were entering Hotland. "And we have reached the end!" Undyne proclaimed, coming to a stop. She grinned down at me. "Did that help you a little? Think you can make your way around Waterfall now?" I gave her my biggest smile in return.

"Nope!" I said honestly. Not that I really wanted to. Waterfall wasn't my favorite place to be. It was too dark and moody. Undyne laughed.

"Well, you better get used to it, punk! I ain't showing it to you again!" She hefted me a little. She looked like she wanted to try punching me in the arm, but stopped herself when she remembered that I was a flower and couldn't take such punishment. I gave a little sigh of relief.

"So, I guess this is where we part ways, huh?" I asked, a little hesitantly. I still couldn't move so long as she was holding me, and I was really quite ready to be put down and left alone with my thoughts for a while.

Undyne suddenly straightened, looking like an idea had struck her in the face. "Hang on a second!" she cried, "I should introduce you to Dr. Alphys! We're most of the way there, anyway. Yeah! Dr. Alphys has some really cool stuff around her lab! If you want, we can watch some of the human history stuff she has!"

"Uhhhh..." Oh crap.

"You want to meet new people, right? Come on!"

"Wait! No, no!" I tried to frantically protest, wriggling in her grasp. I really did not want to see Dr. Alphys just yet. Undyne gave me a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I, uh..." Time to bluff. "I don't like Hotland." Abruptly, she burst out laughing.

"Me neither! Hotland sucks! But don't you worry! It's a quick trip to her lab from here, and if I run, we'll be through it in no time! You can time me if you want!" She stretched her legs in anticipation. "Ready?" she asked.

"No!" I complained. It was too late. Undyne totally disregarded my wail of distress as she took off running down the corridor. I was helpless to do anything and the world became a blur as I was jostled back and forth from the motion of her running. I vaguely made out the sudden lighting shift as we entered Hotland, and the wave of heat smacked into us when we ran through.

Finally, Undyne stopped and my vision slowly stopped spinning, aligning into the sight of Alphys's lab climbing into the sky. "Ta-da!" Undyne whooped.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I muttered, feeling woozy. Undyne only laughed at my misfortune.

"Well, if you do throw up, try to do it over the edge. Vomit looks really sweet when it hits the lava and goes up in flames!" She knocked on the door of Alphys's lab, ignoring the scowl I gave her. "Alphys!" she called, a huge smile on her face.

No response came from the door. My head was still reeling, so I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to Undyne as she nearly busted the door down with her knocking. Eventually, she whipped out her cell phone, muttering under her breath about calling the other monster. My headache was starting to dissipate as Undyne tried calling Alphys for a third time in a row, and suddenly a thought struck me.

More probable than not, Alphys was hiding somewhere, presumably in the other lab under her house where she did most of her higher-end experiments. If I got Undyne to see what Alphys had done down there, maybe Alphys would finally fess up to her crimes. That was on my list for things to do for Alphys anyway. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to follow through on that.

"Hey, Undyne," I piped up. The fish woman looked up from her phone, blinking at me. "If you want to, I can get into her lab. My magic lets me go through solid floors. I could go under the door and let you in."

"What?!" Undyne seemed more than a little perplexed and disturbed by this concept. "We can't just bust in unannounced like that! What kind of a person do you take me for?"

I sighed. "Look, you're worried about her, right?"

Undyne glanced away, biting her lower lip. "Yeah, but... Look, I'm sure she's fine. She's probably at the Capital or something. Though, she normally doesn't leave her lab except to go to the garbage dump, and we were just over there and I didn't see her." I pondered how to phrase my next sentence.

"What if she had an accident or something? Or she's feeling really down and needs a friend? Wouldn't you want to be by her side to help her?" Undyne grit her teeth, taking a slow, deep breath.

"Alright, fine. But if she asks, I'm blaming you!" I grinned. Finally. Undyne set me down on the ground and I immediately went under the door. All the lights were on inside the lab, but Alphys was nowhere to be seen. I stared up at the panel to open the door, perplexed as to how to reach it for a moment. Then, on a whim, I unearthed one of my roots and magicked it into a vine and it strangely complied. I had no idea I could do that. With the extended reach, I managed to hit the button and the door slid open to allow Undyne in.

She entered hesitantly, obviously uncomfortable with breaking in and entering her friend's house. Undyne scowled for a moment. "Look, she's not even here. She's probably out doing something. Which is good for her! She needs to get out more often anyway!" I hesitated.

"I'm not so sure about that, the lights were all on when I came in," I said. "Look, see? There's an elevator behind this door over here. I saw it when I was underneath the floor."

"What? Alphys said that's her bathroom." I raised an eyebrow.

"What's a bathroom?"

"I dunno. A room where you go to take a bath? Alphys told me it's something that humans have in all their houses. I never bothered to ask further." She scratched her head for a moment. "You say there's an elevator, huh? Hrm." She still seemed incredibly bothered about trespassing. I flashed her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I'm curious," I lied. "And who knows, maybe she really needs us. Come on, let's go find out where it leads!" Undyne chuckled.

"Alright, fine. Honestly, I'm curious, too. And Alphys is a great person. I doubt she'd ever have any dark horrible secrets no one should know." I smirked. You wanna bet?

Undyne lifted me into the air again, walking over to the panel and opening the door. Sure enough, it opened into an elevator. She huffed to herself, obviously a little surprised to see that I had been telling the truth, before walking inside. She punched a button labeled "true lab" and the room shifted, making its way down below.

When the door opened, we walked out into the hallway of the older lab. Undyne peered around curiously. The lights were on, which helped affirm in my mind that this was where Alphys was hiding. The lab was a bit of a maze, traversing through unmarked halls with several side rooms lining them at seemingly random intervals. Thankfully, the lights were only on in certain hallways, denoting where Alphys had been. "Hello?" Undyne called. "Alphys? You in here?"

Movement caught my eye and I glanced towards a window set in one of the doors. A disfigured face leered back at me. I squeaked a little, not expecting to see anyone else down here. What the heck?! Undyne turned to see what had made me jump, stopping dead in her tracks. The face in the door looked surprised, then retreated into the dark room beyond. Undyne stared after it, mouth agape.

"Alphys? Please tell me you have nothing to do with this place..." Undyne was clearly unnerved, which was odd coming from someone who was probably one of the scariest monsters in the Underground. She nervously made her way forward, passing by rows of doors. I spotted a few more faces behind some of them. They looked... melted.

I grimaced. Was this what Alphys had meant by the monsters melting? I had imagined them turning into puddles of ooze. She didn't tell me they were still alive! I shuddered. I was a little surprised I hadn't seen any of these things the last time I was down here with Alphys. She must have avoided them on purpose. I didn't blame her.

We eventually came across a room where the lights were turned on and the door was wide open. Undyne poked her head in before slipping inside. The room was much bigger than some of the rooms we had passed, and the whole place was filled with beds. At the far end of the room, Dr. Alphys was pouring a bag of dog food into a dog bowl. Her back was turned to us. There was another melted monster conglomerate eagerly waiting for her to finish. It seemed to be vaguely dog-shaped which would explain the need for dog food.

Undyne stared in absolute horror, petrified with disbelief at what she was seeing. "A-alphys?" she asked nervously. Alphys jumped, knocking aside the bowl she was pouring stuff into and food scattered everywhere across the floor. The dog thing jumped in glee, chasing after a bit of kibble that had rolled under one of the beds. The doctor whirled around to face us, guilt written all over her face.

"U-U-U-Undyne?!" She stuttered, seeing who it was that had discovered her lab. Alphys looked terrified. She unconsciously scooped at some of the dog food with one foot, pulling it into a small pile at her feet.

"Alphys..." Undyne whispered. Then her mouth jerked up into a befuddled sneer. "What the hell is this?!" she demanded. Alphys cowered.

"I-I-I I'm sorry! Please don't judge me! I was going t-to t-tell you, b-but... Ahhh... I was just doing some- uhhh- e-experiments for the k-king and this sort of happened to all the monsters I was w-working with, and I didn't know how to tell anyone and I'm so sorry I didn't know this was going to happen please don't hurt me!" Her words were getting more and more fast-paced as she panicked, ducking beneath her paws in anticipation of a physical blow.

Undyne just stood in place, her eyebrows lifted in concern. Slowly, she approached the yellow lizard, hand outstretched. "It's ok, Alphys. Shhhhh. It's ok. Just tell me what happened. Tell me slowly, all right? I'm your friend and I'm not going to hurt you. You can tell me the truth. You don't have to hide anything from me." Alphys looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm such a h-horrible person!" she wailed. "H-h-how could I ever tell anyone else about what I'd done to these people! I was just trying to do what Asgore wanted me to! I w-was just trying to figure out if we could harness m-monster souls and break the barrier that way! I never wanted to hurt anyone! But look at them! A-a-and now you know. I n-never wanted any of this."

She covered her eyes with her claws, sitting on the floor with disregard to the dog food pooled around her. The dog amalgamate spotted her sitting and bounded over, wagging its tail that flecked goop off the end. Alphys put her arms around the creature in an attempt to find comfort in something, sinking into its shapeless mass. The dog thing drooled all over her. She continued to apologize, but her words were muffled beyond recognition since she had her face buried in the dog's form.

"Alphys, it's ok." Undyne rested a hand on her friend's head, trying to rouse her from her mourning. "Come on! So you made a mistake! So what?! Doesn't mean you have to hide forever. Now get up from the floor! I don't care if you somehow managed to turn some monsters into goo. If I know you, I bet you can find a way to fix it! But you won't get anywhere unless you get up and try!"

Alphys pulled away from the dog enough that she could speak properly. "I HAVE tried," she moaned. "B-b-but I'm just a f-f-failure! Nothing I do ever works! Ever!" She rested her head against the dog, staring at the floor in defeat. "What's the point in trying if all I end up doing is wrecking everything? I shouldn't be Royal Scientist. I'm not smart or cool. Everything you think you know about me is a lie. I-I've lied to you about so many things. L-l-like... seagrass isn't important. I just use it to make ice cream. A-a-and anime isn't real, I just told you it was human history so you wouldn't think I was watching stupid kid cartoons."

Undyne's face abruptly twisted up in horror and shock again. "It's... Not...?" She caught herself, normalizing her expression again. "I mean. Uhhhhh. None of that matters, Alphys! What matters is that you're passionate! You're analytical! And that's what really counts in the end! You have to keep trying, because no matter what, I believe that you can do anything you set your mind out to do!" She yanked the smaller monster to her feet, ignoring Alphys's cry of dismay.

"U-undyne, I-" she stopped herself, suddenly noticing me for the first time, gripped in Undyne's fist. "U-um. Did you bring me a flower or something? What-" I scowled at her.

"Oh! This is Flowey! That's actually why I went looking for you. I wanted you to meet him, but when you weren't upstairs, I got kinda worried. Erm. Not that I have anything to be worried about! Uh..." She trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed. Alphys didn't seem to notice, eyes locked on me.

"I-it's alive? I mean. Uh. B-but that's one of Asgore's... Oh no."

"Howdy, Alphys. Nice to meet you," I said dryly.

"Y-y-you wouldn't happen to be... the flower I was doing experiments on, are you?"

"What?!" Undyne asked, looking surprised. I grimaced.

"Yup. The flower you filled with determination. That's me." Undyne's head swiveled as she looked between me and the lizard, obviously confused. Alphys leapt into motion, reaching for me. I pulled away as much as I could, but I could only retreat so far in Undyne's hand. Alphys noted my movement and withdrew her claw. She looked concerned.

"I-i-it worked?" she asked softly. "You mean... you're alive? I wanted to know what something that wasn't living would do when given the will to live, but I wasn't expecting..." She gestured to me, waving her hand up and down. "This," she finished.

Undyne snapped out of her confusion, processing all of the new information. "Dude!" she exclaimed. "You mean that you made Flowey?! Oh man! It's like Mettaton all over again! That is so awesome!" She held me up to her face and examined me closely. I grumbled at the scrutiny.

"U-um. Nice to, er, meet you, Flowey?" Alphys was looking nervous again, but that was a usual look for her. "You arent... Uh... Feeling like you're going to melt, are you?"

I glanced down at the dog amalgamate that was wagging its tail anxiously, hoping for affection. "You mean like him?" I asked. "I sure hope not. Anyway, now I met you, and Undyne knows the truth about you. Guess, I should, um, get going. I'm sure Undyne has lots of questions for you." I really wished Undyne would put me down. I didn't want to be the center of this conversation any longer.

Much to my dismay, Undyne suddenly held me aloft. "Look, see? Not everything you've done is a failure! You brought a flower to life! How cool is that?!" She shook me for emphasis. I let out a disgruntled moan at the sudden abuse.

"S-so it would seem?" Alphys said, clasping her hands and wringing them nervously.

"You can put me down now," I whined. Undyne grinned at me.

"Whoops," she said. She did not, however, put me down. Instead, she handed me over to Alphys. "Here, since he's your creation, you can look over him and stuff." I gnashed my teeth, but otherwise suffered in silence. I really had no good reason for not allowing myself to be examined by the doctor, other than the fact that I had already gone through said examination at least three times now, but I wasn't about to tell them that.

Alphys gave me a good look-over. "You seem to be fine," she mused. "You're, um, not as physical as I would expect, being a flower and all." I raised an eyebrow at her. "I-I mean, you're not just a flower! It looks like you've somehow gotten some monster-like traits as well. I wonder where those came from..." She pondered this for a moment. "I should really test you with some of the equipment I have down here, just to be sure."

"Can I help?" Undyne asked excitedly. Alphys smiled at her.

"S-sure! Just, uh, try not to break anything."

The rest of the time spent in the lab was fairly similar to when I had gotten examined by Alphys before, only Undyne would occasionally distract the doctor from her work while playing with some of the tools strewn about the lab. The more the two of them worked together, though, the more relaxed Alphys became. She actually seemed fairly happy to have the fish monster down with her and was more open in rattling out her theories for how souls worked and why she had been experimenting with them in the first place. Once she had gotten over her initial fear of Undyne learning the truth about what happened, Alphys seemed relieved to finally have someone to talk to about everything that had occurred down here.

I wasn't a big fan of being experimented on, but I couldn't help but feel a spike of triumph rush through me. Finally! I had done it! Somehow, I had finally solved Alphys's problems. And strangely, it seemed as though I had helped out Undyne as well. As I observed them, it became increasingly obvious that the two of them liked each other. It was a very odd match. And considering how opposite they were from each other, I was willing to bet that any relationship that might stem between the two of them would likely fail miserably. But that just meant that they were more entertaining to watch.

Honestly, I would have thought that a relationship between Undyne and Papyrus would have been more likely, not to mention more successful, but I couldn't control how other people felt for each other. And a little part of me almost hoped that Alphys and Undyne would prove me wrong.

Mostly, though, I found myself becoming bored as Alphys crunched numbers and theorized what they meant. Undyne listened intently, but obviously did not understand a word the lizard spoke. I sat up on the table, watching while Alphys rambled on about something or another for a while. Finally, I grew impatient.

"Can I go now?" I interrupted. Alphys jumped a little, suddenly realizing that she had been rambling again. She glanced between me and her notes for a moment.

"Uh. Well... I guess if you want to... I mean. I would like to watch your progress, but... Um... If you're uncomfortable, then that's no good. A-and I'm done running most of my tests on you, and you seem to be doing fine. So. Um. Sure. Ok."

Finally! Freedom! I gave her and Undyne a huge grin, pushing myself off the table to land on the floor. Once there, I plunged below the surface and ran away, happy to be gone. That was two monsters off my checklist of people to help. Finally, I was getting somewhere.

" _Too nice?! What's that supposed to mean?! C'mon, Chara. I can take it. Tell me what's going on."_

" _... Asriel... Humans are not good people. They're evil, Asriel. They tear down everything they come across, using the world for their own personal gain... I hate them. That's why I left, you know."_

I found myself back in the little village of Snowdin. After being examined by the doctor again, I wanted to blend into the background for a while. I also wanted something to do, so I made my way to the library in the center of the town. My mother had always been adamant that I become well-versed in literature and reading. I was curious to see what kind of books they had here.

I quickly discovered that the library was an absolute mess. Some moron had sorted the books by size and color rather than by topic or author, so it was nearly impossible to scan the books and look for something that caught my eye. They hadn't bothered to differentiate between fiction and non-fiction either. Heck, there were even children's books tucked away among quantum physics books. Sure, the shelves looked nice, but their organization system needed some serious work.

With a frown, I determined that the best way to go through this place was to start from one end and read my way down to the last book. Maybe I'd find something interesting. Or maybe I'd be bored out of my mind. Who knew. But I had all the time in the world, and I needed something to keep my mind off of the insanity of the other monsters around me.

After asking for assistance for getting the book down, I sat in a corner and started reading, resting the book down in front of me on the floor. A few monsters commented that they had never seen me before, so I introduced myself politely before I was left in peace. I lost track of time while reading, but I finally finished the book.

It was actually pretty informative, talking about a brief history of monsters. I was a little surprised to find my own name written there, as well as the story of my death. The author obviously had no clue what had really transpired, and only theorized on the topic before moving on to the events following. It was the part that covered the time gap between my death and rebirth that I was most interested in, and they did a good job talking about the six humans that had passed through the Underground before meeting their deaths at the hands of Asgore.

I asked the librarian to hand me the next book and had started in on it when Papyrus walked in the door. He greeted the monsters in the room before striking up a conversation with some of the ladies seated around the table. At first, I simply tried to tune out the conversation, but Papyrus's loud voice was nearly impossible to ignore. He was talking about some of his puzzle ideas that he had constructed out in the forest to stop any potential humans coming through the area. It seemed he changed the puzzles so each one was different every single day.

His audience was giving him polite smiles which only barely concealed their complete disinterest in what he had to say. I frowned to myself. Honestly, I had to admire Papyrus's work ethic. He may be a complete idiot, but that didn't mean he didn't work hard, and he seemed to really care about the things he did. I found myself becoming more and more annoyed with the monsters who were brushing the skeleton aside just because he didn't think the same way they did.

Papyrus seemed to notice me looking at him. "Oho!" he said with a huge grin. "A newcomer! I can see that you can't help but admire me! Which I don't blame you for. Truly, I am very great." He posed for a moment, looking smug. Then he jogged over to me and held out a gloved hand. "I'm Papyrus! What's your name, little flower guy?"

I took a deep breath reminding myself that as long as I kept resetting, I would have to endure every monster re-introducing themselves to me. "I'm Flowey," I said cheerily. I was getting better at saying my new name without a sarcastic drawl.

"Flowey, huh?! What a perfect name for a flower!" Then he paused, scratching his head. "That's weird," he mused. "For some reason you almost seem familiar. Like I've met you before. But that's impossible! I've never even seen a talking flower before! I'm sure I would have remembered something like that! Nyeh heh!"

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah. Weird."

"Anyway, what brings you to this here Librarby?" I blinked at him.

"You mean library," I corrected, not sure if he was being serious with that weird pronunciation.

"Nope! Look at the sign outside! It clearly says that this is called the Librarby!" The librarian leaned on the counter, giving a heavy sigh.

"For the last time, Papyrus, the sign is spelled wrong!"

Papyrus only laughed. No doubt he knew that the sign was wrong and was only pointing it out to annoy the librarian. At least I hoped that was what he was doing. The skeleton was stupid enough that it was really hard to tell. I was just a little shocked that someone had misspelled the sign on the library of all places. It never ceased to amaze me just how brainless these monsters proved to be.

"I'm just visiting the area," I told Papyrus. I didn't expect to stay for very long. I had mostly come because of the library.

"Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed. "It's not often we get visitors! It's... actually practically unheard of. But that just means that your visit is sure to be great! Feel free to visit us anytime!" I shot him a grin. Oh, I'd visit again. He just wouldn't remember that I'd already been here.

He pivoted to face the shelves of books. "Whoopsie Doopsie! I almost forgot what I came in here for!" He pulled a book down from one of the shelves, somehow knowing precisely where the book he wanted was. He stalked out of the room without saying anything more. That was rather abrupt. I returned to the book I was reading, content to not have to do anything.

The rest of my time was spent in much the same way. Mostly, it was pretty uneventful. I didn't even bother counting the days as they went by. Most monsters learned to recognize me and tolerate me, tuning out my existence now that I was a part of their every-day lives. One by one, I made my way through the books in the library. I visited Alphys and Undyne occasionally, but I quickly grew bored of listening to them. Alphys still had no idea what I was, and Undyne was perfectly happy tearing up Alphys's lab while playing with the halfway melted amalgamates.

Undyne managed to convince Alphys to tell the families of the other monsters what had happened. The monsters were saddened, but surprisingly understanding, especially when Alphys released the amalgamates back to their families. I had expected something more exciting to happen then, but the monsters accepted their disfigured relatives home with open arms.

I continued to get to know Papyrus better since he frequented the library surprisingly often. I spotted his annoying brother once or twice, but Sans didn't remember me, so I didn't mind running into him every now and again. Papyrus was perfectly happy to become my friend again, so I endured through his idiotic rambling for his sake. That seemed to be the best thing I could do for the skeleton. It also seemed to make his brother happy, which was fine by me.

Life continued forward, I finally read the last book in the library, and everyone seemed to be content. I should have felt happy, knowing that I was helping the other monsters in small subtle ways. Thanks to me, Papyrus had a friend. Thanks to me, Alphys had overcome her fears of telling the truth and was back to doing regular science research. I had solved so many problems and yet I remained unsatisfied.

In general, I found myself growing progressively more and more bored of everything. I was beginning to hate it. Nothing interesting happened. Nothing changed. It was infuriatingly drab. I spent a good month or so with the monsters, enduring through the mediocrity of everyday life. I woke up each morning trying to come up with a list of things to do, only to find that my list was growing pathetically short. How had I ever lived like this before? The simplicity was driving me mad.

As my interest in life waned, so did my determination. It was really hard to motivate myself to move forward when there didn't really seem to be anywhere to go. I didn't have any real goals other than to make monsters happy, but that was a vague enough goal that there was no way to know if I was even making any progress.

It took weeks before I finally decided that I could not continue like this. There was no stopping spot, no happy ending. Life just kept going forever and ever, on and on, and all the while I was rotting away without anything to keep me determined to press forward. Yes, I had somehow managed to make a few people happy. But what was the point of that? They didn't even realize that anything had happened.

In the hopes of finding something more interesting to do, I poured all of my determination into restarting the timeline. I needed to do something different. Anything different. Anything!


	7. Resets 7-?: Dusty

" _Chara, you've never told me your story before. What happened? Why did you come to the underground?"_

" _... I was running away. I was so tired of dealing with all those people. Humans are selfish, horrible creatures, so I ran away."_

I eased my eyes open, taking in the familiar golden flowers of the throne room. It had been a while since I had been here. I had nearly forgotten what it felt like, sitting in the sunlit room alone with my thoughts. But this time, all I felt was sadness. I had worked so hard last time, been so determined to give everyone the happiness they did not deserve, and I had accomplished it. Yet I was back here again.

Boredom. I had basically died of boredom. Well. That most certainly wouldn't happen again. I pondered my next course of action. With a new reset, everything was a clean slate. I could do anything I wanted, see what would happen. I started to grin. The world was my plaything. And I was more than ready to play.

As I thought about what I could do differently this time around, I affirmed something clearly in my mind. I could not create another happy ending. I could not live a normal, boring life. To do so was death, because without my determination pulling me forward, I would die. So what could I do differently?

Out of the dark recesses of my mind, a morbid thought surfaced. I could kill everyone. I knew what it was like to have everyone happy. It wasn't enough. What would happen if I did kill people? After all, the most interesting time-line I had lived thus far was the one where I had killed Alphys and Asgore. Maybe the deaths of every monster was truly what I needed. It would certainly prove to be much more interesting.

A part of me rejected the thought instantly, revolted that I would even consider that option. But what else could I do? Sit through yet another month of tiring nothingness? No. No, I was done being nice. Been there, done that. It was time to try something else. After all, it wasn't like I was permanently killing them. They would come back. No one would really be dead. So did that really make me a murderer?

I laughed to myself. This wasn't about me being angry. It wasn't about the sins of others or justice or any kind of crap like that. It was about satiating my boredom so I could keep my determination. It was wrong and I knew it, yet for some reason, that fueled my curiosity. The reason it would be interesting was because I knew that it would create such drastic results, something that wouldn't happen no matter what else I tried. And it would be a completely unknown thing for me. It would prove to be interesting indeed.

The strange part was that I didn't feel like I had gone crazy. Normally, when a monster lost all feelings and stooped so low that they began to slaughter one another, their minds were so far gone that they were impossible to reason with. But here I was, making the conscious decision to kill all of the monsters, including the ones I had befriended, and I was doing so with a level head and perfect logic. I wasn't sure which disturbed me more, the fact that I was going through with this or the fact that I found that I was perfectly ok with it.

It didn't really matter anyway.

I grinned down at the flowers around me. I would let them live for now. That was what had drawn Asgore's attention to me when I had killed Alphys before. I had basically sealed my fate when I had obliterated this poor garden. So long as no one thought to check up on Alphys or her security cameras, I would probably be just fine. That meant that Alphys would have to be my first victim again. So long as she was in her lab with those cameras, I had the potential of bringing the wrath of the entire Underground on me at once. If I eliminated her now, I could get away with knocking out the others and go virtually unnoticed for a time.

It was evil, dark, and horrible, but I found that I did not care. The world was my plaything. The people were my toys. And in the end, I would just reset and no one would remember a thing.

With that in mind, I plowed through the earth, intent on destroying Alphys again. The only person I really had to worry about potentially finding Alphys was Undyne, but the sea monster had been extremely reluctant to enter into Alphys's home uninvited. It was doubtful that I would need to worry too much about it, especially if I managed to lead Alphys down to the true lab first.

Dr. Alphys was back at her computer watching her cartoons. I think she called it anime? Whatever it was, the woman was obsessed with the stuff. I looked over her shoulder for a moment, but determined that it had a lot of ooey-gooey crap and all the people looked funny. I had seen humans, and they most certainly did not look like that. I looked around, trying to come up with a way to lure Alphys into the secret lab underneath.

Upstairs, I located a notebook and some neon pens. I pulled them down with my vines, then grabbed a dark red pen out of the lot, the least happy-cheery color there. It was extremely difficult to write wielding the writing utensil with my roots, but I didn't really have any other way of writing. I missed having hands. Because of my limited writing capacity, all I managed to scrawl in large letters was, "I know what you did." It seemed cryptic enough. Content with my work, I tore the page from its binding and pulled it with me to the front door of the lab.

Slipping the note under the door, I summoned my magic and rapped on the door with a large wave of energy pellets. It was the closest I could get to knocking, and though it wasn't particularly loud, the sound was certainly distinctive. Hopefully it was enough to catch Alphys's attention. I dove under the ground and watched Alphys push back from her desk, pausing the video she was watching with one claw.

"H-hello?" she asked. Her eyebrows were knotted in confusion. After a while of silence, she shrugged her shoulders and resumed her cartoon. I growled in frustration, returning to my spot outside the door and slamming it with more magic. Get over here, you slimy lizard! That finally got her attention enough that she got out of her chair and hesitantly tip-toed to the door.

When she spotted the note, she gasped. "N-no. Oh no. H-how could they know? Oh no. That's impossible, isn't it?" She was getting more and more panicked, bringing both claws up to tug on the back of her head. Her eyes darted around nervously as if searching for the source of the note. Or maybe a good place to hide. "I. I. I can't deal with this! What do I do?! I'm doomed!" She started laughing nervously. "Th-they're going to kill me for sure! I-I've ruined so many lives! This is it! I'm done! Asgore is sure to hate me, a-a-and I'll never be able to face Undyne again!"

She frantically ripped the note from the floor, crumpling it up and throwing it roughly into the trash, then began pacing the room. She was chattering to herself, coming up with all the other possible explanations for what the note was about, but she obviously did not believe any of the far-out scenarios she had come up with. Then she froze, taking deep, short breaths.

"That's it. There's n-no way I can ever show my face again. I screwed up. A-a-and there's nothing I can do. I'm ruined." The doctor looked defeated. She slumped visibly, then shuffled over to the door that led to the elevator, hitting the button despondently. She gave the room one final look-over before slipping inside. I wasted no time, plunging into the ground and following her down the elevator shaft. I was actually surprised at how effective that had been.

In the true lab, I watched as the doctor walked over to one of the amalgamates that was waiting for her. "Hey guys," she muttered. "L-looks like I've been found out." She patted the blobby thing on the head before slumping to the ground beside it. Then she started crying, apologizing to the creature over and over. It was pitiful.

I surfaced a few feet away from her, suddenly hesitant to kill her. She really did feel bad about what she had done. For some reason, that surprised me. "Hiya, Doc," I said softly. She looked up from her crying, rubbing at her eyes.

"Wh-what? Who's there?" Her eyes focused on me and she blinked. "A flower? Oh no. I-I've gone crazy, haven't I..." I chuckled.

"No, Alphys. I'm here, and I'm really talking to you. I'm the flower you filled with determination. Remember?"

Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to come up with a proper response. Then, she slouched further, staring at the floor. "Yet another thing I've messed up, huh?" She sighed and I could see more tears sliding down her face. "What do you want?"

I grinned. "I came here to kill you of course!" I expected her to jump up in surprise, to try to run away. Instead, she sat there, staring at the ground. I frowned. "Did'ja hear me? Have you gone brain dead? I just said I'm going to kill you."

She pulled her knees up to her chin, and she started crying harder. "J-just g-get it over with please," she stuttered. "I w-w-would have probably d-done it anyway, sooner or later. It's what I deserve... after all this..." I stared at her in shock. Well then! That made my job so much easier, didn't it? A grin split my face.

"You really are pathetic, aren'tcha?" I summoned forth a ring of the pellets. The amalgamate in the room shied back, unsure of what I was doing. "Die." I hit her at full force. She didn't even look at me or cry out in pain this time. She merely sat there, accepting her fate.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her form shimmered, then shattered into dust, spreading across the floor. I cackled. One monster down. Everyone else to go. The amalgamate shivered, then retreated down the hallway. I chased it with bullets, but the energy just soaked right into the blob's form without seeming to damage it at all. Oh well. These whelps could rot down here forever for all I cared.

I moved on to find my next victim.

" _But Chara, you're not evil, and you're a human. You can't just assume that all humans are like that."_

" _... You're wrong, Asriel. I'm just like them. Everything I've done, I've done it for my sake and mine alone. All humans are like this. It's part of who I am. That's why I'm out here all alone. I'm scared, Asriel. Scared of who I am. Who I might become. What I might do."_

Dust and soot drifted down from the sky. The poor volcano monster that had been parading around Alphys's lab hadn't even seen me when I hit him. I grinned. Strangely enough, the more monsters I killed, the stronger I felt. Two more monsters in Hotland went down similarly, beaten down while they had their backs turned. It was almost too easy. There was a certain thrill that came from killing. It was kind of like the feeling I got when Chara and I had purposely snuck out at night to pull pranks on some of the other monsters. It was the feeling of rebelling against the rules and getting away with it. This feeling could very easily become addicting.

I found the royal guards who had picked me up in Hotland that one time. I couldn't remember their names. It didn't matter anyway. I surfaced in front of the pair, making sure that they saw me before I killed them. "Whoa, dude! There's, like, totally a flower with a face here, bro!" The one with the bunny ears was going down first. Served him right for not learning how to speak properly.

I summoned a ring of magic and collapsed it in on him. Surprisingly, it only took one hit for him to go down. I grinned. I had expected a bit more of a fight from these guys. Was I getting stronger? The other guard unsheathed his sword in a hurry, looking surprised. "What? 01? N-no! Why?!" It was the most I had heard him speak since I met him. With a maniacal laugh, I attacked him as well, turning him into dust. That was far too easy! Weren't these guys supposed to be royal guards? They were pathetic!

Monster after pitiable monster exploded into white dust as I swept through Hotland. Innocent people and guards alike went down. The thrill of it rushed through me, and I made my way to my next target. It was time for that stupid robot to die. I imagined the explosion he would make and smiled. Oh yes. That would certainly be a great show.

I found him in the resort, on stage performing for something or another. I growled to myself, frustrated that I couldn't kill him right away. I still wanted to remain mostly incognito. So far the monsters had proven to be simple to defeat, but I also knew that I could easily get outnumbered in a fight. I had to get rid of the cameras filming Mettaton, or else my face would be broadcast live to every monster who happened to be watching.

There were at least three cameramen, plus the audience that I somehow had to deal with. I started in with one of the cameramen in the back. I might have gotten away with it unnoticed, too, except that the stupid monster screamed as he died. Suddenly all eyes turned to me, Mettaton lowering his microphone, unsure of what just happened. I dove beneath the ground to avoid being seen, but there was no hiding the dust that wafted away from where the cameraman had been standing or the dead remains of the fizzling camera.

Everyone stood in shock, processing what had just happened. All they knew was that they had heard a scream and someone was dead. I grinned, moving behind one of the other cameramen to the side of the stage. He grunted as my pellets plowed into him, then shuddered before dissolving into dust. I blew up the cameras, too, just for good measure. Someone from the audience let out a scream and the whole place erupted into chaos.

Mettaton stood on the stage in a baffled daze, unsure of what to do. A little smoke elemental in the crowd rushed to him, shouting something along the lines of "Mettaton will save us!" Abruptly, Mettaton took that cue, posing to try to regain the attention of the audience.

"Fear not, darlings!" he shouted. "I have been armed with anti-human combat features, and I shall dispose of this threat post-haste!" I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not. By then I had gotten to the third cameraman and I took him out along with his filming equipment. One of the other monsters spotted me this time, screeching at the top of their lungs and drawing attention to my bullets as they slammed into the final cameraman.

"Someone's killing the cameramen!" I heard the cry from somewhere in the crowd. I grinned. Obviously they meant killed, past tense. And I wasn't planning on stopping there. Many of the monsters were pushing towards the exits, but a surprising number simply stood or sat there, uncertain if this was supposed to be a part of the show or not. I was fine with that. It really wouldn't be good to let any of these monsters escape with their lives to spread the news of a killer on the loose.

I had to do something about those doors. Hm. There were a few potted plants sitting on either side of the exits, and I took control of them with my magic, making them grow into massive hedges that barred the escape routes. A few monsters began clawing at the plants, some summoning magic of their own to get out. I grit my teeth. There was no way I could take on all these monsters at once. Not without depleting my magic reserves. Already, I had used too much too quickly and I was starting to feel drained.

I had to do something big and wipe out as many monsters I could at once. At first I thought about setting the place on fire, but there were too many fire elementals in the room for that to be effective. Perhaps if I could somehow figure out a way to collapse the room... I didn't know enough about how architecture worked to properly locate a weakness that would bring the entire place down. An earthquake might have done the trick, but I didn't have nearly enough magic to cause anything like that to happen.

While I was contemplating a plan of action, I continued my scare tactic. I still had the element of surprise so long as I surfaced behind monsters and wiped them out that way. I located the monster manning the sound board and trashed him and his equipment, leaving the area just before the electronics exploded.

Mettaton began inching up the stage, away from the audience. He seemed at a complete loss for what to do. "Well. Every star for himself," he said abruptly, though it was hard to hear him over the noise of the screams. He then turned and fled backstage. I glared. Oh, no you don't. I pursued him. After all, he was the target here.

A long hallway I hadn't even known about stretched behind the stage, lined with dressing rooms, prop rooms, and a shop for building backdrops and the like. I barely caught sight of Mettaton as he whipped around the corner at the far end of the hall. Just as a precaution, I barred the door leading from the stage to this hall behind me with vines. I didn't want any more monsters escaping.

I finally caught up to Mettaton in the main lobby of the hotel. He turned around, checking to see if anyone was following him. I grinned. Little did he know that I had been on his tail the whole time, he just couldn't see me under the floor. A few stragglers were in the hotel, unaware of the crisis, but the place was mostly deserted. No doubt the people who were normally bustling about had been in the theater watching their favorite star. With the room mostly empty, it was the perfect spot to eliminate the stupid robot star.

I surfaced in front of him, giving him a huge smile. "Howdy!" I said happily. "You're Mettaton, right? The big movie star?" He glanced down at me, clearly shaken but not wanting to show how panicked he was.

"Why yes, Darling," he said off-handedly. "I really don't have time for autographs at the moment. Please move along." He backed away, nearly tripping over the fountain at the center of the room.

"Golly, Mettaton. You wouldn't deny your beloved fan a bit of your time after I've come so far just to see you, would you?" I gave him a look of mocked innocence. He stammered a bit, glancing back the way he had come to see if anyone was coming. No one was, of course. After a moment, he recovered, assuming that he had managed to leave the danger far behind him. If only he knew how wrong he was.

"Oh my, I do suppose I have time for one autograph. And perhaps a selfie or two. How do I look, darling? Glamorous as usual? Yes, yes, now let's get this over with." I grinned, unable to contain the thrill that shot through me.

"Yes," I muttered grimly. "Let's."

I summoned forth a ring of pellets and hit him with all I had. To my shock and horror, they bounced off his thick metal shell and dissipated. He stared at me with unblinking lights, not sure what had just happened.

"Did you... just... attack me?" he asked, hesitantly. I only stared at him open-mouthed. I had not been expecting that to fail. Suddenly he recoiled, laughing his rectangle head off. "Oh man!" he howled. "Oh dear me, I appear to be under attack by a flower! Hahahahaha!" He straightened, regaining his composure. "Ohhhh my glorious goodness. Sorry to disappoint you, darling, but your pathetic attacks aren't going to harm me."

By this point, the other monsters in the room had stopped to stare at the pair of us, curious to see the spectacle. I growled at the delusional box. Why hadn't that worked? I guess he had been telling the truth about being built with combat in mind. That was annoying. Why in the world did Alphys do that?! He had to have some sort of weakness, didn't he? Mettaton lifted a single finger to point at me and a jolt of electricity flashed from his finger to my body. Lightning filled my every particle of being.

I ducked below ground the instant the flow ceased, panting in agony. My whole body tingled and spasmed, and I could distantly recall screaming. Well, that freaking hurt. I looked up at him through the ground, planning my next action. If I remembered right, Mettaton had a giant switch on his back that practically screamed "flip me." I had seen it when I had first met him and he had turned his back on me dismissively. Time to figure out what that switch did.

The moment I was above ground behind him, I shot a vine at the switch, jamming it to the other position. With that accomplished, I moved to the safety of the earth again, just in case he exploded or something like that. He stopped dead in his tracks, processing what had happened.

"Oh!," he exclaimed. "Oh my!" Light streamed from his body to the point where I had to look away. I almost thought he really was going to explode. When the light faded, I looked back to see that his metallic form had changed into a more humanoid figure. I wasn't convinced that the hot-pink colors and high-heels were the most masculine things in the world, and I found that the more I looked at him, the more I preferred his old boxy self.

He stretched, posing dramatically. "I suppose you wanted a sneak preview of my new body," he giggled. "Sadly, it is not yet finished. This is just the prototype, hon. But since you've gone through all this trouble, I might as well give you a beautiful show. It will be a performance to die for!" He laughed. Some of the monsters oohed and aahed, clapping at the performance. All it did for me was make me hate him even more.

I had to figure out a way to attack him without getting hit by another one of those lightning attacks. That stunk getting hit by those. While I was busy contemplating, Mettaton stopped posing long enough to notice that I wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Hm?" he hummed, looking confused. "Oh come now, don't tell me you ran away. I really am quite imposing, but you managed to push me this far, so you may as well stay for the full program, my dear. Where did you go?" He placed both hands on his hips and pouted.

An idea struck me. He mentioned that the form wasn't finished yet, which meant that it was probably weaker than the box form. He still looked like he was made from the same material, but there was a section of him that had the appearance of a heart that looked more like magic rather than pure metal. With target in mind, I pulled above the surface and struck true.

The glass around the heart shattered at the impact and my bullets pierced his soul. He gasped at the sudden impact and electricity started to spark around the heart. "Th-that's cheating!" he screamed. I fired again, throwing as much magic into the weak point as I could. With a deafening sound, Mettaton exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere. I dove below ground to avoid the impact and some of the other monsters similarly ducked for cover. They were next.

I started laughing. I had done it! The stupid robot was gone! He had been tougher than I had thought, but once I had gotten him out of his rectangle phase, he had been ridiculously easy. The expressions on the other monsters' faces were ones of horror. Little did they know that I had probably done them the biggest favor imaginable by killing this guy, but they wouldn't live long enough to know that fact.

One by one, I started taking out the bystanders. They started to scream when dust went flying, and a few made it out the doors. I scowled. So much for getting by unobserved. Oh well. My main work here was done. Now I just had to pick off the rest of the fodder. I plowed through the hotel, leaving dust in my wake.

" _Do you know what that feels like? Hating yourself? It's the worst feeling imaginable."_

" _I... I'm sorry. Chara, you shouldn't hate yourself. You haven't done anything wrong! You're not like them! You're different! I don't hate you, Chara, and you shouldn't either."_

" _...Thanks, Asriel. But there are some things that you can never change, no matter how hard you try."_

Dust. There was so much dust. It lined the streets, the corridors, everything. I could feel the grit of it between my teeth and on my leaves. There was no getting rid of it, no erasing what I'd done. I chuckled, amused by how much damage I had already caused. Less than a day had passed and I had already managed to annihilate a surprisingly huge chuck of the monster population. The monsters I encountered now were scared and flighty, knowing that there was a killer out there, wondering if they were next. And of course, they were. Everyone was.

I had run out of victims in Hotland. No matter how much I scoured the place, looking between cracks and corners, not a soul remained in the desolation. Only dust. It was time to move on to my next destination. Unfortunately, that meant that I would most likely face Undyne soon. I was pretty sure that she wouldn't be so easy to beat. I would have to use some form of subterfuge against her if I wanted to make it out of there alive.

With that in mind, I returned to Alphys's lab and began rummaging through her stuff. Eventually I found it: Alphys's cell phone. Of all the monsters, Dr. Alphys had been the best one to connect to Undyne, and since I had already removed the doctor from the equation, this would be all too easy. I had always been good at voice imitations.

I poked at the phone until I finally managed to get it to pull up Undyne's number. Undyne picked up the phone after only a few rings, sounding anxious. "Alphy, are you alright?! I heard a rumor that there's something going on in Hotland, so please tell me you're ok!"

It took all of my will power not to laugh hysterically. I spoke into the microphone, doing my best to change my voice to sound like the late doctor. "I-I-I'm ok."

"Are you sure? Your voice sounds a little funny."

"Y-yeah. I'm just, uh... Sc-scared. That's all. Do you think you could come over?"

"What's up? Are you sure you're doing alright?" I scowled. Just get over here, you twit.

"N-no. I... I'm scared. I would feel so much better if you were here."

"Well, alright. I'll be over as soon as I can!" She hung up the phone. Finally. Step one of the trap was set. I knew that there was no way in heck I could take out Undyne head-on. She was far too powerful for that. Honestly, I had gotten lucky with Mettaton. Instead, I was hoping to be able to push the fish monster into the lava in Hotland. There weren't very good safety rails placed around the area, and one solid push would be the end of the freak show.

I spotted Undyne jogging up the trail on her way to the lab a short while later. She stopped briefly to chug some water from a cooler set up in the middle of the path, then hurried to stand before the entrance to the lab. She knocked on the door. "H-hang on a second!" I called from within, doing my best to mimic the lizard's voice. Undyne looked perturbed, but stood by, waiting for the door to open.

Unfortunately, the platform in front of the lab was far enough away from any pools of lava that I couldn't just shove her in. Not that I was entirely convinced that I had enough power to shove the sturdy monster over. She was pretty freaking tough. So far my pellets had proven efficient at killing things, but I wasn't stupid enough to over-estimate my abilities against the head of the royal guard. I scowled as I stared at her under the surface, uncertain as to how to proceed.

The delay was long enough that Undyne grew impatient. "Alphys? Are you alright in there? Come on, open the door! It's freaking hot out here!" I paused in my assessment of her. Maybe if I waited long enough, she would catch heat stroke... The heat wasn't as strong so long as I remained under the ground, but above, it was sweltering. No doubt Undyne would get dehydrated really fast.

Waiting for her to dry up was horribly drab, though. Plus I doubted she would stick around long enough. Undyne was bouncing between her feet, looking more and more worried with every passing second. She pounded on the door. "Alphys! I don't care what you look like! I'm sure you look just as cute as you usually do! Just open the door already!" Her teeth were grit in irritation. I chuckled, filled with determination that I was going to kill her.

I popped up a short ways away from the fish monster. "Howdy!" I called. Undyne turned to stare at me with a bewildered expression. I returned the look with a huge grin. "Hm, you seem to be in a bit of a predicament, don'tcha? Guess fish don't take too well to heat." Her eye narrowed in suspicion. "Too bad your friend isn't here to open the door for ya."

She growled low in her throat. "What's that supposed to mean, you little punk?!" she demanded. "Alphys will open the door any second now." I laughed.

"Oh, I really don't think the doctor will. She's feeling a little, shall we say, dusty." Undyne summoned a spear, gripping it hard.

"You're him, aren't you? The one who's been killing everyone." I only smiled innocently at her.

"Who, me? I'm just a tiny flower minding my own business." Her expression was steadily growing dangerous.

"If you laid a single leaf on Alphys, I will make sure the rest of your life is a living hell!" Her muscles were tensed, ready to throw the spear at my face. My smile was not a nice one.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find that I did far more than touch her." My expression grew ever darker as I spoke. "You should have heard how she begged me to kill her." The anticipated spear flew at me and I dove into the ground to avoid it, laughing as I went. I surfaced further down the path, Undyne in hot pursuit. The chase was on!

I continued my pattern of surfacing, dodging her spear, then moving a little further away, leading her closer to the deadly lava pools. Finally, the rock walls dropped away on either side so there wasn't anything between us and the roiling magma below. Undyne stabbed the water cooler on the side of the path, letting the contents drench her. Smart woman. Unfortunately for her, that meant that there was no more water left. Steam drifted away as the water evaporated from her skin.

"Ngaaaahhh! Quit running away!" she screamed. I surfaced close to her, bringing our chase to a halt. She didn't even pause before swishing her spear through me with a glowing green light. Some sort of spell? I didn't feel anything different. I was mostly just glad that hadn't hurt. I summoned my own magic and tossed it at her before moving away. She beat the pellets aside with her spear and leapt back, looking concerned. Her spear flipped uneasily.

"Green attacks don't work on you, huh?" she muttered. I grinned.

"Guess not! Lucky me!" Undyne scowled at me and threw a volley of spears at my head. I ducked away from them, then surfaced behind her to launch another attack. One of the beads of light brushed past her defense, but she didn't even flinch when it rammed into her shoulder. She was still too centrally located to properly shove off the edge, and I was correct in assuming that my energy pellets didn't have enough oomph to push her properly anyway. Oh well.

The fight almost felt like a dance as we spun around each other, firing attacks this way and that in the hopes that one of them would hit. Undyne was skilled in battle, though, and was getting better at predicting my movements. She launched more spears, faster and faster as she became more desperate. My attacks, however, were virtually useless, and she was getting better at blocking the little suckers. I panted as my own energy waned, feeling like my delicate leaves would burst aflame at any given moment. Undyne wasn't the only one who needed water.

It was only a matter of time before one of Undyne's spears met their target. I had a split second after coming to the surface when I got a face full of magic. My vision flashed to white as pain split through my head. I blinked away the agony, shaking my head side to side. When I opened my eyes, I was back in Alphys's lab with Undyne pacing in front of the door. I grinned.

Unwilling to go through the exact same sequence of events, I plowed straight to the water cooler, tipping it over so it landed in the lava with a sharp hiss. Maybe that would help the battle lean more my way this time. I returned to Undyne, ready to taunt her once more.

"You know," I said casually, "it's funny how ready you are to leap to Alphys's side to assist her. She wouldn't do the same for you. She'd just hide in her lab and pretend like nothing ever happened!" Undyne whirled at the sound of my voice, her single eye clenched in a deep glare.

"What's it matter to you, punk?! I would die for her! I would die for anyone!" I grinned at her.

"Anyone, huh? Would you die for me?" She scowled, remaining silent. "Hm... Didn't think so. That's a shame. It'd be real convenient for me if you were out of my way."

Undyne summoned a spear again. "Are you the one that's been killing people in Hotland?" she asked threateningly.

"Ooh. Good guess. How'd you ever figure that one out." I layered my voice with as much sarcasm as I could muster. Undyne swung her spear in a wide arc, readying it to throw. Strangely, she had a menacing grin on her face.

"Perfect. I was hoping to run into you. Now I can put an end to this once and for all!" I gave her a bored expression, easily dodging the spear that came my way. Once again, I lead her through Hotland, bringing her to the spot where the water cooler had once stood. She seemed surprised to find that it was missing. I smirked at her.

"No water for you, miss fishy. Too bad, so sad." I fired more bullets at her and dodged past her own thrown projectiles. Her attacks were becoming way too predictable, and her pace had slowed down since she wasn't whipped up into a frenzy this time. She did try her green magic thing on me again, only to curse under her breath when it failed. I managed to score more hits on her as I predicted her movements and altered my aim accordingly. Sweat poured from her body, only to steam off her as it evaporated. She was definitely in a lot worse shape this time around. I laughed, feeling the thrill of the battle.

I was taken completely off-guard when the area below me started to glow and a spear erupted from the ground, nearly plunging through my body. As it was, I was only barely able to dodge it and the attack took out one of my leaves and half of my petals. My left side burned from the pain. No fair! She'd never done that before!

I tried to haphazardly continue the battle, but the agony brought me down. I found that my movement was crippled, and my vision was starting to blur. There was no way I could keep dodging in this condition and it was almost a relief when she stabbed me in the face, activating another reset. I took a deep breath, opening my eyes to see Alphys's lab again. This was proving to be annoying.

Once again, I began by tipping over the water cooler. That had really been an advantage last time. And hopefully I wouldn't be dumb enough to get hit by one of her attacks. I surfaced behind Undyne, glaring at her unprotected back. I just wanted to kill her. Was that too much to ask for?

"Hey, ugly!" I shouted. She turned, looking puzzled. "Yeah, you! You suck!" Undyne scowled at me, looking more than a little offended.

"Excuse me?!" she snarled. I stuck out my tongue at her.

"Nyah nyah! Undyne's a total wussy!" She balled her hands into fists.

"Do you have any reason for coming here and insulting me? Or do you just really want your butt kicked? Because, punk, you are cruisin' for a bruisin' right now."

"Ooh! I'm soooo scared!" I cooed, rolling my eyes. She reached for me, trying to pluck me from the ground. I pulled back out of her reach. I continued to taunt her, drawing her away from the door. "Lookit me, I'm Undyne! I'm in love with a slimy lizard and I like to watch kids cartoons!" Another swing, followed by choking sounds coming from between her bared teeth. "My best friend is a loser skeleton who doesn't know his right hand from his left! We like to try to cook together even though our cooking tastes like crap!" She looked really pissed off. The tactic seemed to be working, though, as she slowly advanced on me while I continued to move down the path.

"Alright, you little punk! You asked for it! You're gonna get the biggest whoopin' of your life!" I only laughed, dancing away from her. We were almost to the platform above the lava now. I kept up my string of insults.

"You think you're such a hero, don't you? Going around beating up whoever you dang please! Good golly, it's sickening just watching you! You really think you're the one who's going to solve every monster's hopes and dreams? Pfft. Give me a break!"

She pointed a finger at me threateningly, "Hey! You're one to talk! You're nothing but a stinking flower with a big mouth! Ngaaaah! Quit running around! Face me and fight, and I'll show you who's the hero, you little brat!" I grinned, stopping in the center of the platform.

"Alrighty!" I beamed. I summoned a ring of pellets surrounding her, collapsing them in. Her eye went wide, but she managed to dive to the ground as the attack zoomed above her head. In an instant, she was back on her feet and racing straight towards me. I remained above ground, staring her down. At the last second, I pulled a vine up and wrapped it around her ankle, tripping her. She fell hard, a few inches away from my face.

Before I had time to properly boast, she whipped her arm up, nearly nabbing me. By the time I moved back, she had managed to pick herself up from the ground. With a wave of her hand, a series of lights appeared around me and I had to quickly relocate before I got speared again.

"You little punk," she growled. "First you insult me, then you humiliate me. How'd you know all that stuff about me, anyway? I've never seen you before in my life." I smiled up at her pityingly.

"Oh, Undyne. I've known you longer than you can ever imagine. It's amazing how easy you are to manipulate." She looked puzzled. She hadn't even noticed how close to the edge she was. "It's been fun, really. But I think it's time to end this." I whipped up a vine behind her, yanking her over the side of the cliff. She tried to regain her balance, but her foot met air and she plummeted down into the flaming abyss.

"Goodbye," I whispered as she screamed. I heard her hit the lava and smiled to myself. With my greatest threat gone, I could move on to eliminate the rest of these useless monsters. Hearing the sounds of Undyne meeting an untimely demise filled me with determination.

" _You know... It's a bit ironic. I came to the Underground to escape the evils of this world. But what do you do when you find out that you're just as bad? Where do you run to then? Where do you go when the one you're trying to escape from is yourself?"_

Waterfall proved to be simple to wipe clean. There weren't many inhabitants in the flooded maze, so I pushed on to Snowdin rather quickly. The only person in Waterfall that I spared was Undyne's neighbor, the ghost that I could never pronounce his name. I had no idea how to kill a ghost. Or even if you could. I didn't even try. The old turtle, Gerson, put up a bit of a fight, but he had grown feeble over the years and could no longer fight the way he used to. And then I got lost trying to find Temmie Village, but once I found it, the stupid idiots there were pretty easy to eliminate.

By the time I reached Snowdin, word had spread of me. The streets looked deserted, but I could see faces peering out of windows, scanning for any sign of danger. Not that they could see me anyway while I was underground. I chuckled to myself. Who would have ever thought that a little flower like me could be the cause of so much destruction and fear?

Strangely, only one citizen remained outdoors, standing boldly in the street waiting for me. Papyrus. Of course. The skeleton stood dramatically, arms at his hips and scarf blowing in the wind. I grimaced. Of all the monsters in the area, Papyrus was possibly the only one I felt a bit bad about killing. He was the closest thing I had to a friend since becoming a flower. I swallowed my pity. He was just a naive idiot. I had killed so many others, surely one more death wouldn't hurt anything. I did want to see what he had to say, though. Maybe he would fight me. That could be fun.

I popped up in front of him. "Howdy, Papyrus!" I said cheerily, as though this was any other day. Papyrus glanced down at me with a huge grin on his face.

"Ah-ha! He appears! The mysterious flower we've been hearing so much about! Come to turn yourself in to the Great Papyrus?!" I smiled up at him. Oh, you poor fool. "Worry not! For you see, I, the great Papyrus, have elected to grant you pity and compassion! It seems to me that your life is going down a dangerous path, but I, Papyrus, see great potential within you! Everyone can be a great person if they try! And me, I hardly have to try at all! Nyeh heh heh!"

"Oh, Papyrus... You really don't understand any of this, do you?" I chuckled to myself. "I've already tried the whole being friends with everyone thing. It didn't work." He folded his arms.

"Clearly, you were not trying hard enough! Being friends with everyone is easy! Nyeh heh heh!" I shook my head.

"You say that, but how many friends do you have, Papyrus? I mean, really... Think about it."

"What?! I have lots of friends! Practically everyone has heard of the Great Papyrus!"

I started laughing, a small chuckle that elevated to the brink of maniacal. When my laughter died down, Papyrus continued his speech.

"See?! You can't deny it! Even you knew my name without me having to tell it to you! Little flower! I think you are in need of guidance! Someone needs to keep you on the straight and narrow! But worry not! I, the Great Papyrus, will gladly be your friend and tutor! I will turn your life right around!"

"You really are an idiot," I said with a giant smirk. I summoned a ring of bullets around him. "Die." They collapsed on their target. Papyrus's body shuddered, then dissipated into dust, leaving only his head. He was now at eye level with me, and strangely was still talking to me.

"W-well! That's not what I expected. But. I still believe in you! You can do better! Even if you don't think so!" I gave him a pitying smile. He was so foolish, even in death. His head wavered and shattered. Thus ended the Great Papyrus. I was filled with determination.

Just then, a hooded figure stepped out from behind one of the buildings. "I was wondering if you were going to do that," Sans said casually. "I was rather hoping you wouldn't. Y'know. Kinda thought Papyrus had the right idea for once: sparing the anomaly, making friends, the whole shebang." He stopped, standing about ten paces in front of me.

"Wow, Sans. You seem rather calm, considering I just killed your brother." I grinned. "Come to join him?" Sans's eyes were dim. He looked extra spooky with his eye sockets left blank.

"Nah. Normally I hate getting involved in things like this. A guy like me likes to take things easy, you know? But seeing how many people you've killed... I really can't afford to let you go unchecked. Guess I gotta step up and do my job for once."

I laughed at him. "And what do you think you can do? So far, no one's been able to stop me!" He remained motionless, standing with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"I got a question for you. Seems to me you've gotta have some sort of special power, making it this far. Now, I understand acting in self-defense, but... If you do have some special power, isn't it your responsibility to do the right thing?" His eyes were closed and he looked a bit sad.

"Are you kidding?! I am the prince of this world! This is nothing but a game to me! All of you are just pawns for me to move around and kill as I please!" He chuckled.

"Alright. I got a better question for you." He looked up, making eye contact with me, though his sockets were still an empty void. "You wanna have a bad time? Cuz if you keep going the way you've been going, you're really not gonna like what happens next."

My laugh was shrill. I really couldn't believe this idiot! As if I would just stop and be nice and everything would go back to normal after all I'd already done. "I'll take that as a no, then. Welp. Can't say I didn't try."

Before I could even react, he abruptly summoned a giant creepy skull thing. Light emitted from the thing's mouth before pain engulfed me. I shuddered all over, glancing up. I was still in Snowdin, but Sans was casually rounding the corner again. Had I just died? What the heck was that?!

"Hm," Sans intoned. "You're looking a bit confused there, buddy. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you look like you just went through hell." He stopped again, ten paces away. "Which, considering you just killed my brother, really doesn't surprise me. Wanna go again?" I scowled at him. What was he on about? He didn't remember killing me. He couldn't. Could he?

He chuckled to himself. "First time dying to me, eh? No worries. There will be plenty more where that came from." He summoned that skull thing again and I barely managed to pull beneath the ground before a beam of light blasted where I had just stood. So that was what he had used against me, huh? I surfaced again, glaring him down. Why had his speech changed?

Sans's eye flashed blue and he lifted one hand from his pocket, raising it to the sky. A bunch of bones erupted around me, a few piercing some of my petals. "Huh," he mumbled. "Guess you don't have a soul. Makes sense, considering how heartless you are." He brought his hand down and a wave of bones flew at me. I dove out of the way, only to come face-to-face with another skull thing.

Light and pain filled my body and I shook my head side to side, reeling from it. I looked up to see Sans walking around the corner again. "You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted. He paused.

"Wow. What's the matter? You look frustrated about something." He rolled his shoulders. "Guess that means I'm good at doing my job, huh?" He summoned his initial skull, which I dodged with ease. Once more, his eye flashed blue and he waved his hand. He paused when nothing happened. "Hm. You seem to be a little lacking in the soul department. Makes sense, I guess."

So he didn't remember. Strangely, that filled me with a wave of relief. Then the ground became a field of bones and one nailed me straight through my stem, lifting me in the air. I gasped, dangling from where it penetrated my stomach. I felt my life leech away and I glared at the skeleton as my vision faded to white. When I came to again, Sans had just stepped out from behind his building.

I didn't wait for him to get close this time. Without saying a word, I launched a wave of bullets at him. He didn't even flinch while he summoned a bone to absorb the damage. "Feeling a bit hasty, eh? Guess I should just get right to the point, then." A skull appeared and fired a beam in my direction. I moved out of the way, then summoned more bullets to assail him with. He casually jumped aside and they slammed into the wall behind him.

Once more, he tried his blue attack thing. I took the opportunity to summon a ring around him, knowing that he wasn't expecting his attack not to work. When the ring collapsed, Sans was abruptly standing a few feet away, untouched. How in the world had he dodged that?!

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you've died to me a few times already," he said with a shrug, that stupid grin still plastered on his face.

"And how would you know anything about that, you bonehead?" I demanded. He winked at me in response.

"Guess you could say I've had a bit of experience with time travelers. Never seen one without a soul before, though. How'd you manage that?" I grimaced at him.

"Time travelers, plural?! You've got to be joking!"

"Well, I am a comedian," he stated with an off-handed shrug. "But I ain't jokin' about that. Nah. The only joke here is you, ya dirty brother killer." I ducked below ground just as a sea of bones formed where I had stood. That was close.

I resurfaced behind him, hoping to catch the skeleton off-guard. Without turning to look at me, he summoned another skull blaster aimed straight towards my face. It seemed I couldn't hide from this guy. I wasn't sure how he did it, but he apparently knew precisely where I was at any given moment. He had me on the run, constantly firing attacks at me before I made it fully above the surface.

In a moment of fear, the thought struck me. I didn't think I could beat this guy. With everyone else, I hadn't been afraid at all. Even with Undyne, I knew that I would eventually find a way to beat her, and I had. But with this stupid skeleton apparently able to sense where I was, in addition to the fact that he knew that I could manipulate time, I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to get past him. Surely he had a weakness, didn't he? Everyone had a weakness.

I stopped trying to resurface and attack him, choosing to instead hang out under the ground and contemplate a strategy. The moment I stopped moving, Sans leaned against the side of the house he happened to be standing by, closing his eyes.

"Y'know, you could always quit. That'd make my job a lot easier. Just reset, bring everyone back, and we can all go home and forget this ever happened. Sound good?" I growled in frustration. I had come so far! I wasn't about to reset. I hadn't managed to kill everyone yet. He sighed.

"Look, I know what you're probably thinking. You haven't finished what you started, so you want to keep going. Because you feel that you have to. But let me tell you a little secret..." He opened his eyes, looking directly at me as if there wasn't a layer of earth between us. "You don't. I get it. Really, I do. But sometimes, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And killing everyone? There's no point to it."

I popped up in front of him, angry. "What do you know?! It's not like you know what I've been through! Besides. If you're so smart, you should understand that nothing I'm doing is permanent. It's not like I'm causing any real harm. As you said, when I'm done, I'm just going to reset the timeline and no one will ever know that any of this happened. So why stop me?"

He chuckled. "Good question. I've thought of that. It's a great excuse for being lazy and not doing anything."He stared down at the ground. "What's the point in doing anything anymore? It's not like anything I do ever changes the outcome. Why bother trying?" He sounded defeated.

"But, y'know... If I keep thinking like that, one of these days, things won't be reset. And maybe I'll regret not doing anything to stop it. You killed my brother just now. What if one of these times, he doesn't come back?" His eyes met mine.

"My bro always says that everyone can be a good person if they just try. I wish I could be as trusting as him, but... Eh. Been hurt once too many times for that. But something you said just now caught my attention. You said that there's no harm in it, no one remembers, but that's not entirely true. You remember. Aren't you worried what that might do to you? I can sense that there's something good in you. A part of you that wants to do the right thing. What happens to you when this is all over?"

I snarled at him. "I'm already broken beyond repair! You think I care about my soul? I've got news for you, pal! I don't have one anymore! I tried doing the right thing, multiple times, and every time I do, I die! There is no outcome where I live happily ever after in the end. There is no such thing. No matter what, I'm doomed to spend the rest of eternity as a stupid flower! And you want to know why?! Because I spared the lives of a handful of humans!"

Sans seemed taken aback, his eyes going dark again while he contemplated this. I grinned to myself. His defense was down. I attacked him as swiftly as I could. He dodged, clearly expecting something like that to happen.

"Well, have it your way, then." In an instant, five blasters formed around me and I barely had enough time to think before I was incinerated again.

I shook myself, feeling the phantom pain dance away. "Gahhhh!" I groaned while Sans sauntered up.

"Wow," he said casually. "You look really pissed off about something."

"Shut your trap!" I yelled. He stopped, breathing a heavy sigh.

"No doubt I've already tried to persuade you to stop. I don't suppose you're going to rethink that, will ya?" I growled at him, cursing the stupid skeleton in my head. He shrugged. "Ah well."

The fight ensued, but I could only dodge for so long. Pretty soon, I wound up dead again. The moment I reset, I plunged into the ground and ran away. Screw this guy. I had better things to kill. At the very least, I wanted to kill Toriel. I bee-lined for the ruins, passing Sans. He stopped, staring after me as I ran. I smiled, glad to see that he didn't seem to be pursuing. I surfaced a ways away, glancing back. I stuck my tongue out in the direction of town. Then I turned to come face-to-face with the skeleton again.

"Heya. Don't think you can get away that easily." Pain flooded through me and I was back in the village again. I snarled at the skeleton.

Time after time, I fought, and time after time, I died. I was getting better at dodging his attacks, but they were extremely hard to predict. He kept switching them up on me, changing the pattern and direction at random. And more often than not, I kept getting hit, and I wasn't strong enough to take the damage. I tried fighting back. I tried running away. And all the while, he would always catch up to me and I would die. I lost track of how many deaths I suffered. It was too many.

And every time, he reminded me that all I had to do was reset the timeline. Reset and never kill again. That was his only request. And even though it filled me with rage, I was starting to run out of options. I really couldn't kill him. He dodged past all of my attacks, and he never got tired because I never lasted long enough for him to do so.

At long last, I made my decision. I would play by his rules. I would reset. However, that didn't mean I was giving up. I would restart the timeline, yes... But that was where Sans's plan stopped. He couldn't control me, and he wouldn't remember any of this anyway. I grinned, pooling together my determination. I was determined to destroy everything, no matter what this stupid skeleton had to say about it!


	8. Resets 50-51: LOVE

" _I can't get over this feeling. The desire to hurt others. It haunts me constantly. The need to hurt. To maim. To kill."_

I glowered at the light streaming in from the windows above. I hated him! I wanted that skeleton dead! Sans would pay, no matter what! How dare he try to take away everything that I had left?! I had already been robbed of life and dignity, and now Sans wanted to take away the only glimmer of hope remaining: my determination. Well, he would get what was coming to him. He would see just how determined I could be. He had no way of knowing I was coming this time. Without his memories, I could sneak up on him and end his miserable existence before he had a chance to know there was a flower out to kill him.

With my mind intent on murder, I went straight for Snowdin. All of the monsters I passed up above were just useless garbage. Trash I had already eliminated once before, and now because of that smiling jerk, I would have to do all of that hard work again. It fueled my rage and my determination.

When I got to my destination, Sans was in the kitchen mixing together ingredients for his stupid pie he was baking. He stirred the contents of his mixing bowl, softly humming to himself. Both of his eyes were shut. Perfect. I surfaced and instantly summoned a ring of pellets and prepared them to fire.

Sans opened one eye, glancing between the energy pellets and down at me. He blinked and set down his spoon so he could recline against the counter to look at me. "'sup?" he asked nonchalantly. Geez, didn't anything unnerve this guy? I didn't give him an answer other than to collapse the pellets on him. I had rather hoped that he wouldn't notice my attack. Just like the timeline before, Sans dodged the bullets without seeming to move.

"Well, that's no way to greet a new pal," he commented. He gave a long sigh before turning back to his bowl of goop. "Can I get ya anything? Water? Dirt?"

A wellspring of hatred roiled within me. I hated him so much that my entire body was trembling. With a yell, I summoned as much power as I could muster and threw everything I had at him. He dodged it without missing a beat, carrying the mixing bowl along with him.

"Hey, you wanna help me with this? Sure takes a lot of effort stirring this stuff. Maybe you can direct some of that energy into doing something useful."

I was vaguely aware of angry tears rolling down my face. I launched another attack at him only to have him catch the bullets in his bowl where they bounced around a bit and dissipated. "Thanks." he said. I glared up at him, my face contorted into a vengeful snarl.

"Why?!" I demanded between sobs. "Why can't I beat you?! Why won't you let me win?! Why?!" He closed his eyes again, setting the bowl back on the counter.

"Look, buddy. I've never seen you before, but you obviously know me. And judging by that expression on your face, I've killed you before." He opened his eyes again, looking grim. "A lot."

He shrugged, pulling himself up to sit on the counter beside his bowl. I could do nothing but glare at him through my tears of rage, panting at the effort it had taken to try to blast him. When I didn't say anything, he continued.

"Now I've got no quarrel with you just yet. Best we keep it that way. Capiche?" I responded with a wordless yell and by attacking him again, firing wildly letting bullets scatter throughout the room in a last-ditch attempt to hit him. I grit my eyes shut, not caring to look at the results. I wasn't surprised when I heard him sigh loudly, obviously untouched by the attack.

"Wow. You, uh, must really hate me, huh? What'd I do to deserve that?"

"You existed," I hissed, glaring at the floor. "And you refuse to die!"

A brief moment passed in silence. "Hm. Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I don't really plan on dying just yet. I couldn't do that to Papyrus. Guess you're stuck with me."

"I killed him, you know," I muttered. Sans stopped his incessant prattling. "Papyrus. I killed him. I watched him as he turned to dust before me." Talking about it filled me with a strange sensation as the memory of how liberating it felt to kill returned. My focus was still pointed at the tiled floor below me, but my expression shifted into a dark smile.

"What a complete idiot. Even as he was shattering into a million pieces, you know what he said to me? He said he still believed in me." I gave a hollow laugh. "He believed there was something good in me. As if I weren't this soulless husk of a flower. As if I weren't already broken beyond repair." I swiveled my head up to give Sans a full view of my deranged grin.

"How does it feel, knowing that your brother was a stupid idiot right to the very end?! I mean, seriously! What'd you do, scramble his brains? The guy's a child trapped in the body of an adult! It's no wonder he doesn't have any friends! Just look at him!"

Sans's eyes were closed, his ever-present smile somehow appearing sad. I didn't want him sad, I wanted him angry. I wanted him to hurt. I wanted him to feel pain. He just sat there, motionless.

"You know, you say you don't want to hurt Papyrus, but you didn't even try to stop me while I killed him. You just stood there and watched! It's like you don't even care about him! What kind of a messed up person just watches while their only family member dies right in front of them?!"

Still no reaction from the stubby skeleton. He remained slumped on the counter with his hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes shut. It almost looked like he was asleep, but I knew he was listening to me.

"Boy, Sans. Not even going to defend yourself? For someone as powerful as you are, you sure seem to be pretty useless. You can't even help your own brother!"

Sans sat forward, his eyes easing halfway open. He leaned on one hand, looking completely relaxed. "Are you planning on insulting me this whole time? Cuz believe me, bucko, there are so many other things we would both rather be doing." He slid off the counter-top, raining flour onto the floor as he went. "As for Papyrus, he doesn't need my help. He's smart. I trust he knows what he's doing. Even if it means befriending scum like you." His expression was not a pleasant one.

A flashback of this man killing me time and time again sent a shiver down my stem. I scowled as he turned back to his mixing bowl and cracked a few eggs into it. "Hey, you wanna do me a favor?" he asked. "I could use a little more 'flour.'" I growled at him, feeling the anger return in a flood. I fired more energy pellets at him before dunking under the floor and leaving in a huff, not bothering to watch him dodge the attack again.

Time to burn down the village.

I started with the library. I had spent so much time there reading all of those stupid books and not a single one of them had been helpful in the least. I slaughtered the useless librarian and the other warbling old ladies who frequented the tiny place. Using my vines, I shoved over all the bookcases and heaped up the books into a huge pile.

Lighting the books on fire proved to be a pain. Without my fire magic working properly, I had to find some other means of setting the dumb things alight. I did finally manage it, though, and the results were highly satisfying. Embers licked up the dry pages and consumed the heap, spreading out across the wooden floor. Screams echoed around the village while the library went up in flames, a column of smoke rising into the air. I gave a smug look and turned to attack some of the other citizens I hadn't had the chance to kill just yet.

I almost didn't see Sans when he stepped out of his house, eyes dark. When I did, I gave him my biggest grin. A challenge. As he approached me, he seemed an image of total calm amidst the frantic chaos of the monsters around him.

"You were right, Sans. There are so many things I could have been doing instead of wasting my time on you."

In a flash, Sans was abruptly standing two feet away from me. He knelt in the snow to stare at me eye-level. Strangely, the lights of his eyes were back, and he looked more concerned rather than angry. "You must really want to have a bad time," he muttered. His hand shot out and gripped me around my stem. "Look, I gave you a chance. And this is what you decided to do with it?"

I stared defiantly back at him. He sighed heavily, giving a disappointed shake of his head. "I really hate being the judge, but buddy, you really know how to push my buttons." He ripped me from the ground. The moment my roots cleared the soil, I turned them into vines and wrapped them all the way up Sans's arm, weaving stems and leaves through the gaps between his bones. This didn't phase him a bit.

Blue fire flashed in his left eye and a burning sensation split through me. I didn't look down to see what had caused the pain or what the damage was. I didn't want to. In agony, I summoned a ring of pellets that converged on the both of us. I did not get the chance to see the outcome as my vision was abruptly swallowed in light, my body filled with pain.

" _Chara, you shouldn't say such things. You're starting to scare me."_

" _Ugh. I told you that you wouldn't understand."_

I snarled at the golden flowers around me in the throne room. I hated that stupid skeleton. Hated him with every fiber of my being. I probably didn't need to start all the way over this time, but it was better if Sans never remembered me ever coming back. It would be better if he never saw me. I had a new plan. Avoid the smiling trash bag at all cost.

I had already killed all of the people in Hotland and Waterfall and most of the monsters in Snowdin and the Capital. Going around and rooting out every little monster seemed more of a pain than it was worth. Maybe if they were directly in my way, I wouldn't hesitate to take them out, but without any specific target, the fun of killing people was wearing thin. I had to pick someone. Really, the only person that I hadn't killed yet that was on my list was Toriel. Well, I hadn't killed Sans yet, either, but he was proving to be borderline impossible. Maybe I'd go back to trying to kill him if I got any better ideas as to how to go about doing so.

There was something disturbing about going out of my way specifically to kill my mother. As much as I hated to admit it, that still bothered me. Not because I actually cared about the old lady, but because of the concept of killing a family member. I had to remind myself that I had already killed Asgore and it hadn't been that big of a deal. I was immediately plagued with the memory of sobbing and resetting immediately after that and shoved the thought down. Those had been tears of frustration at how much I hated him, not because I had any emotional attachment or anything stupid like that.

It was a slow journey going all the way back to the ruins. It gave me time to think. Time to coldly contemplate all the reasons why I was doing what I was doing. There was something to be said for boredom, but I was also doing this because I could. As long as I had the ability to reset time, there were no consequences for my actions which meant that I could get away with doing whatever I wanted. And although I was frustrated with my mother's stupidity, I found that I had become detached from the situation. It wasn't me she was hurting after all. It was my father she hurt the most, and I had already concluded that I didn't care about how he felt either. There was no personal vendetta for killing her. She was simply another monster with a giant target affixed to her.

The travel time did allow my anger to calm down. Pushing Sans out of my mind, I could focus more on what lay ahead. I didn't really want to just attack my mother and leave. There wasn't any fun in that. I had already done that to so many monsters, and piles of dust just weren't all that entertaining. After all, my whole purpose was to have fun. I wanted to see just how angry I could make her. Maybe I could even get her to attack me first.

When I finally got to the ruins, I had some irritation trying to find my mother. She was apparently on one of her walks around the place. I found her strolling through a room filled with small waterways and bridges passing over the tops of them. She seemed peaceful, taking her time while she walked. She had no way of knowing that I was coming to destroy that peace.

I surfaced directly in front of her, though she didn't immediately see me. "Hey, you old cow!" I shouted. That instantly got her attention and her face twisted into an offended gape.

"Excuse me?!" she demanded.

"Yeah, you! Toriel the royal queen of betrayal!" I gave her a leering smile. I had already tried to convince her to return once before and it hadn't worked, but I could still let her know the list of her crimes. I wanted her to feel the hurt and the guilt. It was much more interesting seeing people react rather than just watching them die.

Toriel's expression went hard and she planted her fists firmly on her hips. "I have no idea to what you are referring, but I can assure you that I am but a humble caretaker of these ruins. Now begone."

I laughed at her. She knew alright, she just didn't want to admit it. "Oh, mother, it isn't good to lie. I know what you did. You left us. You abandoned your people when they needed you the most." I narrowed my eyes at her, but I found that my emotions were in-check this time. It really didn't hurt any longer. Toriel's mouth hung open, and she looked like she wanted to say something to defend herself but couldn't find the words. I continued my tirade.

"Your only children died and Asgore swore to kill all of humanity, so you left in an outrage. Yada yada, blah blah. You know, for someone who's always been the brains behind the throne, your actions were surprisingly short-sighted. Did you honestly think Asgore wanted to follow through on his plan? If he wanted to, he could take the souls he has now, pass through the barrier, collect the remaining soul, and set all of monsters free, but he doesn't want to. Golly, it's frustrating when you think about it. You gave up on him way too quickly. Seriously."

"And not only that, did you ever stop to think about what your absence would do to the kingdom? You left Asgore to run the place by himself! You of all people should know what a stupid idiot that guy is, and you left him in charge! Come on! Did you really think everything would just get along fine without you?"

Toriel's eyes were thin slits in her face, but I could see the hurt behind her mask of anger. "I did that which I felt was best at the time, flower. I do not know how you have knowledge of these events, but telling me of things that are past will benefit no one." I gave her a huge grin.

"You're wrong! This conversation is exactly what you need to hear! I'm letting you know exactly what you have done, all the crimes that you have committed. You didn't leave Asgore because it was best for anyone. You left because you were ashamed that you had been incapable of helping to save your children and you didn't want to face up to that fact. You thought that by coming here, you could somehow save the human children that fell down in the ruins. I bet you even tried to raise them as your own like what you did with Chara. We see how well that worked. The ruins are empty and there are six dead human souls sitting in Asgore's castle."

Tears welled up in Toriel's eyes. She gripped her paws in anger, trembling. "You know nothing of what I have endured," she growled.

"Wrong again! I know everything about you. Did you ever stop to think about what your actions did to Asgore? Did you ever stop to think about what they did to me?"

"I do not even know who you are, you miserable whelp!" Oh yeah, she was angry. It made me smile in satisfaction.

"Oh, I think you do. After all, you raised me." She looked confused. "I'm your son. I'm Asriel."

Her expression went dark as the information sunk in. "Impossible," she whispered.

"You would think! And yet, here I am! Surprise! It seems the new royal scientist has been up to no good, messing with things she shouldn't have been. Her experiments on human souls and the flowers that grew from my dust resulted in me: a soulless flower with all the memories of Asriel Dreemurr. Boy! Imagine that!"

"You're lying. My son would never act as horrible as you. How dare you insult his memory by trying to take his place!" I laughed, a high-pitched squeal.

"Believe what you want! It doesn't make it any less true!"

Toriel's face was twisted in rage. "Get out of my sight, wretch!"

"Ooh! Or what?! You'll mother me to death? I'm so scared."

She unleashed a wave of fire, intentionally missing me. It was a warning shot. "Go away!"

The thrill of the fight raced through me. I had gotten her to make the first attack. It was clear that Toriel was on the brink of breaking as a torrent of emotions flooded her at once: anger, shame, guilt, disbelief, sorrow. I had no idea it could be so fun to push someone this far. I wanted to see just how far she would go.

I held my ground and grinned defiantly at her. "Do you remember how you used to bake snail pies for us every Sunday? I never told you before, but Chara always fed her portions to me when you weren't looking. I was alright with it, but Chara hated the stuff."

Toriel advanced on me, summoning a fireball in front of her and holding it aloft over one hand, threatening to unleash it. "Cease your speaking this very instant." I ignored her.

"Oh yeah, and remember that time when we were looking for bugs together and we found this weird fossil? You told me it was from an era before humans and monsters roamed the earth. Dad just said it was a funny looking rock."

It looked almost like I was physically striking Toriel in the face with every memory I unearthed. The thing that hurt her the most was the knowledge that I really was her son that she had loved so much, and it pained her to know just how far I had fallen. Pathetic. Why should anyone have to feel another person's pain? It didn't make sense. Wasn't it bad enough simply enduring your own pain?

"And remember the time we-"

"Enough!" She didn't let me finish, throwing her fireball at the wall where it exploded, taking a chunk of brick out with it. Tears streamed from her angry eyes. "You are not my son!"

I laughed again. I couldn't help it. It was so easy to manipulate her into a burning rage. She pointed an accusing finger at me.

"Is there any reason you have come here other than to torment me?" she demanded. My laughter died down to a chuckle.

"No. Not really. Well, scratch that. I do have one thing I want to do." I looked directly into her eyes. "I came here to kill you."

Her eyes widened and she instinctively summoned another fireball and held it at the ready. The moment of shock dissipated and she narrowed here eyes at me suspiciously. "And why is that? Have I done anything to deserve such a fate? I think not."

I gave her another grin, showing all of my teeth. "You're right. You've done some pretty stupid stuff, but that doesn't mean you have to die. But I want to kill you anyway. Just for fun."

She glowered at me. "What a disgusting creature you are," she mumbled. That was my only warning before she attacked me outright, launching her fire attack straight at me. I dove to safety, narrowly missing the spreading flames that danced around the room. I cackled, imbued with the thrill of the fight.

When I surfaced behind her, I launched my own attack. She turned, but was unable to dodge the attack, clearly not expecting me to come from behind. The pellets hit with a resounding thud and she grunted at the impact, stumbling forward a few steps. She whirled to face me again, backing up slowly as she threw another wave of flames at me. Her movement placed her up against one of the walls, which made sense, but the wall was covered by a curtain of vines. The moment I was safe from her attack, I took control of the vines and entwined them around her, trapping her.

Toriel struggled against her bonds, but quickly grasped one and set it aflame. Her magic devoured the vines, leaving nothing but charcoal and smoke. Once free, she spotted me again and coldly attacked. Her face was set in a stony glare, a look she only donned when dealing out punishments to disobedient children. I knew that look well. It was strange remembering how I used to be afraid of this woman.

The battle continued. I found that I had gotten better at dodging attacks. Monsters usually had a fairly predictable pattern, needing to summon their weapons before throwing them. It was easy to use that time to move underground and pop up somewhere else and attack while they were still recovering from the previous move. Toriel was especially easy to predict since not only did I know her really well, her attacks were also similar to Asgore's, though she wasn't quite as adept at fighting as he was.

It still took several blows to take the old goat down, though. The damage dealt was a battle of wills, the attacker's will to destroy against the defender's will to live. She managed to singe me a few times before I hit her enough to shatter her determination. I was panting from the effort by the time she dropped to her knees. It took my brain a moment to register the fact that I had won.

"Do you really hate me that much?" she asked, her eyes coming up to meet mine. "If you are him, if you really are Asriel... Did my leaving really cause you so much pain?" I met her gaze, feeling the impact of what I had just done. I thought back to when I had first yelled at her. The hurt that I felt.

"Mother, you have no idea the hell I've been through since I first woke up as a flower." My words were resolute, no longer taunting or meaningless. I thought I would feel joy and triumph at finally beating her, but instead I felt nothing. I didn't feel guilty, either. There was simply an empty void where any emotion should have been.

My mother closed her eyes, her form shaking in the final stages of death. "I am sorry, my child," she whispered. "It seems that I could not save you. Even after all of these years." Slowly, her body dissolved. Dust drifted away, leaving her soul floating in the air. I watched stoically until that, too, shattered into a million pieces.

I breathed in and let it out in a sharp hiss. I felt completely and utterly empty. Nothing but a husk. Flowey the flower. That was all that was left. Asriel was dead. There was no way I could even pretend at being who I once was anymore. Everything was gone. I turned away from the dust of my mother and burrowed into the earth, moving to some unknown destination.

" _Come on, Chara. There's no use sitting here talking about the past. Let's go home. Mom is waiting for us. Everything's going to be alright. You'll see."_

" _I wish that was true. Really, I do."_

I wandered around, lost in thought. I didn't fully snap out of my reverie until I spotted Papyrus patrolling up above. I was in Snowdin, and Papyrus was bustling about working on something or another. Probably trying to make a new puzzle or something along those lines. Seeing the ridiculous skeleton again awoke something in my mind. An idea started to spark.

Sans had proven impossible to beat, but I already knew that I could take down Papyrus pretty quickly. Perhaps I could use the younger brother to my advantage. It still seemed odd to me that Sans hadn't bothered to stop me from killing Papyrus that one time, but I had seen a softer side to Sans when I had befriended his brother in a previous time-line. Sans cared about his younger brother, whether he was willing to admit it or not.

If I could manipulate Papyrus to my will, it was likely that I could get the older skeleton to follow after. I grinned to myself, thinking of what I could do if I could get Sans to do my bidding. I wasn't sure what his limits were, but so far, he had proven to be the strongest opponent I had faced, rivaled only by Undyne. With that level of power, I could create all kinds of chaos.

Without any sort of plan, I popped up beside Papyrus. "Howdy!" I called. Papyrus jumped a little, turning to see the source of the noise. Then his face lit up.

"Wowie!" he cried. "A talking flower! Come to admire me, the soon-to-be popular royal guard while he is hard at work? I do not blame you! Truly, my efforts are quite noteworthy! Nyeh heh heh!"

I glanced at the piles of snow he was building up. They seemed to make some sort of maze, though he was leaving plenty of room on either side to walk around the thing. "Admiring my work, I see," he commented, planting a fist on his hip. "This will be a most dastardly puzzle when I am finished! You see these buttons inside? Only when all the buttons are pushed will the way out be revealed! It shall surely confound any human who happens to pass through! Nyeh heh heh! No one will escape the Great Papyrus!"

I decided against pointing out to him the obvious flaws in his design, laughing at his stupidity instead. "Yeah, that will totally work. Truly, you are a master," I stated dully. The sarcasm was lost on Papyrus and he straightened at my comment.

"Of course I am! I am the Great Papyrus, the master of puzzles! When I capture a human, Undyne will be so proud of me! She'll wonder why she never let me join the royal guard in the first place!" He paused, rubbing his lower jaw. "Which, why she doesn't let me join now is beyond me... But I am sure that she simply has not seen how great I am! If she had, she would not have hesitated to let me in! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

If I could rub my head, I would. Instead, I settled for shaking it in wonder, smiling at this guy's lack of intelligence. He really was an idiot. Abruptly, Papyrus remembered that I was there, turning his full attention back to me.

"Anyhoo, what can I do for you, my little flowery friend?" he asked with a big smile. I returned the look, mocking innocence.

"Oh, I'm just such a big fan of yours! Boy! Getting the chance to meet you has really made my day!" My false compliments visibly boosted Papyrus's spirits and he somehow stood even taller than he had been a minute ago. "I've heard that you're really strong! What I wouldn't give to have the opportunity to see you fight!"

Papyrus folded his arms confidently, cocking his head to the sky. "Oh, you want to see my great powers, eh? Nyeh heh heh! Be warned, my vast skills can be quite overwhelming! You would be so awe-struck with my greatness that I would worry that you would faint! No, it would be irresponsible for me to put you in such danger. Though I most certainly do not blame you for wanting to see!"

I barely kept myself from glowering at him. As it was, I could feel my eyes narrow dangerously. "Come on, Papyrus. I bet you could face down Undyne herself! Surely you wouldn't be opposed to giving me, your number one fan, a demonstration?"

Papyrus gave a little huff. "Of course I can take on Undyne! Why, I take her on every day while training with her! But, um. I just came from over there. It would be silly to go back! Sorry. You will have to wait for a different day. Feel free to stop by Undyne's house some time when I am over there sparring with her."

This was going nowhere. My facade was growing ever weaker the more Papyrus resisted, getting on my nerves. For someone who was so easy to manipulate, he could really be stubborn sometimes.

"Hey. I came all this way just to see you, and you're going to blow me off? I want to see you fight! Take on one of the other royal guards or something!" It was really hard to keep my smile up. As it was, it had already shifted into more of a sneer. If Papyrus noticed anything off about my expression, though, he didn't pay it any mind.

"Oh, no, I couldn't do that! I would get in trouble for that!" My patience wore thin.

"How about your brother? You wouldn't get in trouble for fighting him. And you're way better than that guy."

Papyrus abruptly looked annoyed by something. "Ugh. My lazy brother wouldn't lift a finger if the entire world was ending around him." The response surprised me a little. "There's no way he'd fight me, even just for a sparring match. Not that I'd want him to. Nyeh heh! It would hardly be a fair fight!"

It occurred to me that although I had spent a lot of time with Papyrus, I hadn't really seen how he interacted with his brother much. It seemed that Papyrus's opinion of his older brother wasn't high. Not that I blamed him. There was a reason I wanted that smiling bag of trash dead.

I grinned at Papyrus, shoving down my frustration. "Hm. That's a shame. I'd pay money to see you kick his butt."

"You'd pay money to watch him kick whose butt?" I jumped at the sound of Sans's voice coming from behind me. I hadn't heard him walk up.

"Oh ho! Speak of the devil!" Papyrus cried. "This flower here was just asking to watch me fight someone! What do you think, brother? Would you dare challenge me, the Great Papyrus, to a friendly sparring match?!"

Sans cracked his neck lazily, looking unconcerned. "C'mon, bro. You'd probably mop the floor with me. I wouldn't stand a chance. Go fight Undyne or something if the kid wants something to watch." He looked down at me and gave me a wink. "Though, if you really wanted us to fight... How much money we talkin'? 50,000 G?"

I glowered at the shorter skeleton. I didn't have that kind of money on me. I seriously doubted anyone in the Underground had that kind of money. Greedy jerk. Thankfully, Papyrus butted in.

"Sans! We don't want to rob people! What would you do with that much gold, anyway?!"

"Hey, I gotta pay for Grillby's somehow."

"Oh, do not even get me started on how much time you spend there," Papyrus snapped. "Maybe it would help you to cook your own food once and a while! And to not take so many breaks!"

Sans raised both hands up in front of him in a sign of surrender. "Yeesh, take it easy, bro. I'm only joking. You wanna go, let's go." He returned his hands to his pockets. "Just don't expect me to put up much of a fight. I'm no good at this kinda stuff. I don't have the muscle for it."

I watched this with a big grin. Finally. This would prove to be entertaining. Papyrus started the fight, readying a summoned bone. "Here I come!" he shouted. With a flick of his wrist, the bone launched at Sans's face. Sans eyed the bone and casually stepped to the side of it as it flung past. He glanced back at his brother just in time to see the other skeleton forming another bone.

The tiny skeleton barely had to move to evade the projectiles Papyrus was sending at him. "Come on, Papyrus, you can do better than that!" I shouted. Surprisingly, Sans chuckled at the comment.

"Yeah, bro. This stuff is easy peasy. Show him your blue attack." Papyrus looked uneasy.

"Are you sure you can handle that, brother? If I hit you, even once..." He trailed off. Sans gave him a wink and a thumbs-up.

"No worries. Go for it."

Papyrus shrugged. "Alright, but no complaining when it gets to be too much for you!" His brother only grinned, awaiting the next attack. With a wave of his hand, a series of bones appeared colored blue. They shot through Sans, but they apparently didn't do any damage. To my surprise, though, a blue aura suddenly surrounded Sans. When Papyrus threw his next regular bone at his brother, Sans jumped over it rather than move to the side like he normally did.

I blinked in confusion. Did that attack somehow prevent Sans from moving properly? I wasn't sure what it did, but Sans's ability to dodge was suddenly greatly reduced. Was that the attack Sans had used against me that one time? He had said it didn't work because I had no soul. Maybe it was holding his soul down in a way I couldn't properly see.

After leaping over a dozen more attacks, Sans waved a hand in defeat, breathing heavily. "Alright, bro. You got me. I'm done." Papyrus grinned, walking over to his brother and resting a hand on his head. The blue glow around the shorter skeleton faded.

Papyrus laughed. "Had enough already, huh? I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did!" Sans grinned up at his younger brother, playfully shoving Papyrus's hand aside.

"Hey, I told you I wasn't that great." I scowled at the pair. Having witnessed Sans's true power first-hand, it annoyed me to no end that he hadn't even tried to fight back against Papyrus. Sans turned his attention to me. "Alright, bud. You owe me." He winked. "You picked a good guy to look up to, though. My bro's the coolest."

With that, he calmly walked away, hands in his pockets. I glared at his retreating figure, calling him a thousand bad names in my head. Papyrus planted his hands on his hips, looking proud of himself. "Well, little flower? I believe you have seen enough of my magnificent power! I hope you are quite satisfied! Nyeh heh heh!"

My expression was dark. Seeing Sans again had refueled my anger towards him. No. I wasn't done with Papyrus just yet. I wasn't entirely sure what I planned to do or even if it would work, but my work with Papyrus had only just begun. The naive skeleton didn't even notice as I carefully wrapped his legs in vines.

" _Why do you seem to think that just because you're a human, you're going to turn out evil like the rest of them? Just because you're born as something doesn't mean you have to let that define who you are."_

" _Asriel, trust me on this. An apple sapling will always grow up to be an apple tree, even if you plant it in the midst of oranges. There are just some things you can't change."_

" _Well, duh. You're still going to be human, no matter what. But that doesn't mean you have to be an evil human!"_

" _That's what I'm trying to tell you. There is no such thing as a good human. All of them are evil. Just like me."_

I squirmed, trying to better situate myself on the back of Papyrus's spine. Vines spread out from my roots below me, twining around his limbs. "Quit moving!" I snapped as Papyrus shifted a little, pulling at one of the thicker vines wrapped around his tibia.

"Sorry," he said. "Wowie. This is the most efficient hug I have ever received! I can barely even move!" He shrugged, straining at my roots.

"That's kind of the point, you moron! This is a kidnapping!"

"A kid napping?! What's he doing asleep?! You can't be talking about my brother. We just saw him. He's actually awake for once!"

I sighed in irritation, tightening my grip on his bones to secure him a little better. This was proving to be more of an annoyance than it was probably worth, but it sure beat sulking in a corner.

"I'm abducting you!"

"Wowie! You never told me you were an alien!" I gave a groan of sheer agony at the stupidity of this man.

"Like I'm taking you hostage! Now stop squirming!"

"Oh, I get it now. You're so enamored by my magnificent skills that you want me to divulge my secrets! Nyeh heh heh! I'll let you know now, there's no secret to my great power other than hard work and perseverance! You can achieve anything if you try hard enough! Maybe one day you'll be almost as great as me!"

If I had thought my patience had been wearing thin before, it most certainly was now. "I don't give a crap about you! All I care about is your brother! I want him dead!"

"Well, that's a silly thing to want," Papyrus mused, turning his neck slightly to get a better look at me. "I would think he'd be much more useful to you alive than dead. Though I'm not sure what difference it would make. He's pretty lazy. I doubt you'll have any luck getting him to do much of anything."

I scowled at my victim, pulling on my vines in such a way that his head was forced back forward. "That's what I need you for, you idiot! He won't hurt me if it means hitting you in the process. Now move." I released his legs, giving him the ability to walk again, though I held my vines ready just in case he tried anything funny.

"Move where?" he asked. I groaned at him.

"To catch up with your idiot brother!"

Papyrus shrugged, then obediently stepped forward, falling blissfully silent. A couple of the monsters we passed gave us funny looks, but they didn't seem to think Papyrus was in any sort of danger. The fact that he greeted a few of them cheerily helped with that illusion. At last, we reached the house belonging to the pair of skeletons. I reached out with a vine to open the door so I wouldn't be forced to release my hold on Papyrus more than I had to.

The skeleton stopped just inside the doorway, taking in the view of the kitchen. The place was a disaster, coated with flour and dirty dishes. I had nearly forgotten about Sans's baking adventure.

"Sans!" Papyrus shouted up the stairs. "What have you done to my kitchen?! Have you no respect for my personal spaghetti-making station?! You better get down here and clean up this mess this very instant!"

Sans poked his head out of one of the doors upstairs. He looked like he was going to say something witty, but stopped when he spotted me wrapped around his brother. I took that opportunity to speak up.

"Don't move or I kill Papyrus!" I yelled. I felt Papyrus tug at his bonds as he attempted to give Sans a shrug.

"Sorry, brother. It appears that I, the Great Papyrus, have been captured. But that is nothing compared to what you have done to the kitchen!"

To my complete annoyance, Sans abruptly started laughing. "Wow, bro. Seems like you've gotten yourself in a bit of a vine."

"Sans, this is no time for your puns!"

The shrubby skeleton disregarded my warning, walking forward and leaning on the rails to get a better look at his brother's current predicament. He was still chuckling to himself. "Sorry, bro. I need to get it out of my sy-'stem'. I just can't 'leaf' it alone."

Papyrus seemed just as irritated with his brother's horrible taste in jokes as I was. "Sans! Do you not see how dire this situation is?!" Sans's eyes drifted to rest on where I sprouted from the back of Papyrus's neck.

"Congrats," he said as calmly as ever. "You managed to tie up my brother. Good job." I growled. Would he take this seriously already? Both of the brothers were getting on my nerves. Sans sighed, resting his chin on the banister. "So what'dya plan on doing with him? I assume you brought him here for a reason." Finally. Down to business. I smiled cheerily, trying to hide my frustration at this whole ordeal.

"I want an exchange. Your life for Papyrus's. I'll let Papyrus go, but only if you let me kill you." Sans blinked, looking a little sleepy. Papyrus was the one who piped up next.

"You can't kill me! I am the Great Papyrus!" I laughed at his stupidity, tightening my grip and summoning a ring of energy pellets to surround Papyrus's head.

"You're not in any position to talk," I jeered. I noticed Sans pulling out his phone out of the corner of my eye, but he didn't appear to be using it to call anybody, so I let him be.

"I can talk just fine, thank you very much!" Papyrus retorted. I squeezed some of my vines together, hard enough that I might have dislocated the shoulder of any other monster I tried this on. Papyrus didn't even seem to notice. Surely he felt pain, didn't he? Sans only poked at his phone, looking disinterested.

"Would you take this seriously?! Both of you!" I let one of the beads of energy I had summoned slam into the side of Papyrus's face. He flinched at the impact, but remained otherwise silent. "You heard my demand, Sans. If you really loved your brother, you'd be willing to give your life for his!"

Sans ceased tapping on his phone to look up at me. His eyes were narrowed. "I do love my brother," he said quietly. He glanced down at his phone again, poking it a few more times before stuffing it back in his pocket. "Look. I wouldn't expect garbage like you to understand anything about love, but just as I couldn't stand to be without Paps, I know I could never leave him in a world without me. Sorry, bud. No deal on this one."

I could feel my mouth hanging open in utter disbelief. "Ok, so you'd rather see him die, then? I'll make sure to do it nice and slowly so you can regret your decision every second he spends screaming." Sans closed his eyes with a sigh.

"Ooh! You want me to scream, huh?!" Papyrus asked, ignoring the burn mark that streaked across his jaw. "Ok! AAAAAAAH!" I winced at the loud noise right next to my ear.

"Shut up!" I shouted. I smacked him with another bullet to emphasize my point.

"Owwww," he whined. "You're not being very nice."

"I'm not trying to be, you idiot!"

Before Papyrus could respond to my insult, Sans suddenly spoke up again. "Why are you here?" he inquired. I scowled at him.

"I already told you! I want to see you dead!" Sans rested his head on one hand, drumming on the railing with the other.

"Yeah, but why? Papyrus and I have done nothing to you. Why go out of your way to torment us? There's no sense to it."

I gave Sans my best grin. "Golly, you're one to talk. You've killed me more times than I care to count! I've lived so many lifetimes, and thus far you've been the only monster I can't seem to get past."

He scoffed. "What, me? Geez, buddy. You must be really weak if I'm the one who stops ya."

Papyrus seemed confused, glancing backwards at me. I didn't blame him. It wasn't like he knew anything about the resets. I was still surprised by the fact that Sans did. I glared up at Sans. He met my gaze, waiting for me to respond.

"I wouldn't expect you to know anything about what I've been through," I said at last, not justifying his insult with a comment. I knew what he was capable of, even if he wouldn't admit it in front of Papyrus. I sincerely doubted that the younger skeleton realized how deadly his older brother was. It seemed that Sans had a lot of secrets hiding behind his grin. Sans shrugged, pushing away from the railing.

"Welp, if that's all, I'm going back to my room." He turned and casually sauntered back the way he had come.

It was Papyrus who yelled at him as he left, saving me the effort. "Sans! Get back here! You haven't cleaned up this mess you made! My poor kitchen is in shambles!" Seriously? He was being held captive with a death threat and he was worried about the kitchen?

"I'll do it later," Sans replied, shutting the door behind him. I grit my teeth.

"Fine then! I'll rip your brother into so many pieces, you won't be able to find them all! You had your chance to save him!" I wrapped more vines around Papyrus's body, clasping his legs together and forcing the skeleton to the floor. He landed with a resounding crash, grunting at the impact. I pulled at one of his arms, trying to separate it from the rest of his body. He tried rolling onto his back to squish me, but I stopped his efforts by shooting vines down into the floor to hold him down.

Just then, the front door burst open and Undyne rushed in. "Sans, if this is another one of your pranks, I'm gonna-" She stopped short when she saw me entangled on Papyrus's back. "What the hell?"

"I'm OK!" Papyrus said, his voice muffled since he was speaking into the carpet. I groaned. Great. When had Sans called her? He had taken out his phone, but he hadn't done anything with it. I couldn't take on Undyne while still trying to hold down Papyrus.

I unwrapped the skeleton, pulling my vines in to become roots once more. Somehow the pair of skeletons had outsmarted me, and that really pissed me off. Undyne grit her teeth dangerously and summoned a spear, readying it to throw. "You won't get away!" she shouted as I finally broke free of Papyrus. I sneered at her. She swept a green-colored spell through me, hitting Papyrus as well. It had no effect on me, but Papyrus abruptly started glowing a deep forest green, halting his efforts to stand back up. That was apparently another soul binding attack.

Before she could react to her failed binding, I gave her a final grin and dove into the ground to safety. There was no way in heck I was going to stick around to get slaughtered by the crazy fish lady. Undyne ran forward, spearing the ground where I had just been. She swore under her breath, then reached over to assist Papyrus, letting her green power drop away from him.

I stopped to watch from beneath the floor for a few minutes, breathing heavily. "What was that thing?" Undyne asked Papyrus. He shrugged, rolling his shoulder I had just tried to yank off.

"That flower was in serious need of a good friend! It's a shame you chased him off! We were just about to have some quality friendship time!"

"It was attacking you!" Undyne protested. "When I came in, it looked like it was trying to pull your arm off!" Papyrus looked down at his arm and massaged the joint connecting it to the rest of his body for a minute. Despite his bravado, he appeared to be pretty shaken.

"W-well, maybe so. But... I'm sure I could have talked him out of it! Yeah! I am the Great Papyrus! I can talk my way out of any situation!"

Undyne stomped her foot in frustration. "Ngaaah! I just can't believe that little twerp got away! If that flower shows his face again, I'll rip him to shreds! No one gets away with attacking my friends!"

I didn't feel like hanging around to listen to the rest of their conversation. I gave an irritated grunt and left. I didn't go too far, just to the back side of the library. I surfaced and leaned against the hard wood, letting out a long sigh. I wasn't there for long before Sans rounded the corner, taking a seat beside me in the snow.

"What do you want?" I snapped. "Come to gloat?" He didn't look at me, just stared straight ahead into the trees. After a long pause, he glanced down at me.

"Just wanted to chat with you for a bit. Seems you've got some kind of personal vendetta against me. Which, to be honest, I don't really care how you feel about me. You can hate me all you want. Doesn't bother me none. I probably deserve it anyway." He rubbed his head with a sigh. "But you put my bro in danger today. I can't let that kinda behavior slide."

I scowled at him. "Alright, so go ahead and kill me already. Whatever. I was probably going to just reset anyway."

"You don't get it, do you? I can't control what you decide to do in other time-lines. The way you underestimated Paps just now means you've probably killed him before. Who's to say you won't do it again? That knowledge... well..." He looked directly at me, but the lights of his eyes were gone, leaving empty sockets. "I'll do anything in my power to stop you."

Sans closed his eyes and leaned back before continuing. "You get it yet? If I let you go back now, you're probably just going to try the same trick again. Now say what you want about Papyrus, but he's the greatest man I know. A guy like that doesn't deserve to be treated poorly."

I didn't quite understand what this guy was talking about, and I was really done listening to him. "What's your point?" I asked in irritation.

He turned to look at me. "My point is that I would rather watch my brother die than force him to live in a world where he has to suffer. So not only am I asking you to never harm my brother again, I'm telling you that there is absolutely no reason that you ever should. If I can make that clear."

The weight of his words lay heavy. After giving that spiel, he pushed himself to his feet and started to walk away. "Welp. That's all." he said. Then he paused, looking over his shoulder. "Oh. And if you do hurt Papyrus again, those 'countless deaths' I've made you suffer will seem a fond memory compared to the living hell I will put you through." He turned back and continued walking. "See you 'round, kid."

I released the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Man, I hated that guy. I leaned back to stare into outer space, thinking about everything and nothing. When I grew sick of that, I reset, letting the world fade to white.


	9. Reset 52: Number One Fan

**Quick Author note: I apologize for the long delay in getting this chapter posted. I just started college. Unfortunately, I won't be able to keep up with my previous chapter a week schedule. Sorry.**

* * *

" _I'm tired of arguing with you. If you don't understand, that's fine. There's a reason I'm out here."_

" _I just wish I could help you. That's all."_

I was growing sick of yellow flowers. Each time I awoke in the throne room marked yet another failure. It meant that things had gotten so bad that I had been forced to restart time. When I had first discovered my ability to reset, I had taken so much joy in the freedom it granted me. Now it felt like a loss. I lost friends, I lost progress, I lost patience. I hated it. I also hated that stupid skeleton, but his message had been quite clear. Don't mess with him.

Part of the problem with restarting was that I was running low on ideas for things to do. It took a lot of determination just to reach this point, but in order to fuel my determination, I needed a definite goal. So far, I had none. So instead, I sat in the throne room staring at the ceiling trying to come up with a plan. I lay there for hours, contemplating what I could do with my life.

My previous goals included things like breaking the barrier, solving everyone's problems, killing everyone, and other mighty aspirations. Now I could only think of smaller things I wanted to try to do. I wanted to see what would happen if I killed only Mettaton. He was influential enough that killing him might result in some definite changes around the capital. When I killed him before, I had also slaughtered everyone else around him, so I hadn't been able to isolate the effect of killing the star. So that might be interesting to see.

The problem with having such a small goal was that it meant that it would be easier to run out of things to do. I could kill Mettaton, but then what would I do? Sit there and watch? That wasn't any fun. I also couldn't resist the urge to mess with Papyrus. Sans had threatened me if I ever hurt Papyrus, but he never said anything about manipulating him. And if I stayed out of sight of the older skeleton, he wouldn't even know I existed. I mostly wanted to do that to spite Sans, though.

I sighed deeply. I couldn't just sit here forever or else I'd turn into dust. Without my determination, I would die. The few things on my 'to do' list would have to suffice for the moment. It wasn't that great of a plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. Since I had nothing better to do, I headed to the MTT resort where I knew Mettaton would be hanging out, probably performing on stage or something like that.

Finding him was simple since he was in the same location he had been the last time I had come to kill him. Time had elapsed differently, but I hadn't been paying attention to what the show was even about when I had run through this before, so I couldn't tell if I was faster or slower getting to him this time around. Not that it really mattered. Either way, he was going to die.

I wasn't feeling particularly patient today. I wanted to get this done and over with, and the thought of hanging around watching the show while I waited for it to end just rankled my nerves. The stage was set in such a way that there were plenty of blind spots off stage, so I could probably get away with killing the robot without being caught on camera myself. Besides, his death would make for a better show than whatever garbage the dumb robot was putting on.

Staying below the floor of the stage, I shot one of my root vines up behind Mettaton to flip the giant switch on his back. "Oh my," he said, interrupting whatever line he had been saying before. He turned slowly to see who was behind him, but he had given me enough time to whip the vine below ground again, so all he saw was empty stage. "Well, beauties, it seems that some passionate fan has flipped my switch!"

His body began glowing, emitting a dramatic fog to hide his transformation. I rolled my eyes and looked away from the flashy spectacle. "Prepare yourselves for the premier of my new, glorious body!" he shouted while the light and fog increased. I heard a few gasps come from the audience as they leaned forward in anticipation. At last, Mettaton's body had finished shedding its boxy outer shell and the light faded to reveal his new form. He posed, blowing a kiss to the audience.

"Lucky for you, I've been wanting to show this off. So just for you darlings, you can see the sneak preview of my glamorous self." The crowd erupted in cheers. I could almost barf, it made me so sick. All of these people were such idiots.

While Mettaton was still posing, I surfaced behind one of the stage curtains, far out of view of any camera. The idiotic robot was far too busy catering to his adoring audience to notice me on the side. I summoned a ring of pellets and shot them through the weak spot on Mettaton's middle. However, this time the attack didn't even break the glass. Mettaton still recoiled and grasped his stomach from the pain, but for whatever reason, my bullets failed to kill him.

I grit my teeth, diving below the stage to avoid getting caught. Why hadn't that worked? Mettaton straightened and looked around for the source of the attack. The audience fell silent as they watched their favorite star grimace in pain. I cocked my head, baffled by my failed attack. The only conclusion I could think of was that I hadn't killed any other monsters this time around. I had thought I felt stronger after every kill, but I hadn't realized that it would actually make a difference.

"Who's there?!" Mettaton demanded, scanning the area where the bullets had come from. "A villain has made himself known. Show yourself, you dastardly menace!" Oh, right, like anyone would come out of hiding just because the person they were hiding from asked for it. How stupid could this guy get? Since his attention was still on the side of the stage I had just left, I was able to pop up in the shadows of the other side. Rather than provide a direction for him this time, I summoned the energy pellets in a circle around him.

The bullets collapsed on Mettaton, but he was anticipating the attack and leaped into the air to avoid it. He landed with a flourish, posing for the audience. They cheered. To them, this was probably just another part of the show. No one knew that their favorite star was in very real danger this time.

"Oh my, your attack appears to have missed," Mettaton cooed. "This really isn't a proper place to be fighting, darling. But if you insist, then we should make this a fantastic performance! Show us what you've got, you little miscreant." He brought a leg up and extended one hand, twitching the fingers in a 'bring it' motion.

This was proving to be significantly more annoying than I had originally anticipated. I purposefully summoned a ring of energy coming from left stage. Mettaton caught sight of the attack and turned, readying himself to dodge. While he was distracted, I summoned another attack coming from stage right. That attack hit, but the backside of his weak point was protected with more of the hardened metal, so it bounced off harmlessly. I scowled. I needed some other way of killing him.

Unfortunately, I was getting tired. Now that I was trying to attack with a lower power-level, I was starting to realize just how weak I had become when I had reset. I couldn't keep going with this tactic. Besides, attacking from behind was apparently completely ineffective. There was no way I could attack the front of him and not be seen at the same time. I stopped and stared at him from underground, contemplating a course of action.

It didn't take long for Mettaton to notice that I had ceased my attack. He straightened and placed his hands on his hips. "Come now, you can't attack me and then disappear. Every good show needs a great villain!" For some reason, that statement made me chuckle. Was I the villain here? To everyone else, I was. If they understood how much damage this idiot was doing, they might change their minds, but that wasn't likely to happen. Mettaton had the entire Underground brainwashed with his stupidity.

That was an idea, though. I needed a villain. I couldn't let myself be seen, so I needed to provide something for Mettaton and the audience to look at. I began scanning the backstage, trying to find anything I could use. I hated leaving Mettaton alone for long, but I needed to change up my strategy. Mettaton shrugged when I didn't take any more action, then began trying to play off the event to the audience, resuming his previous show.

All of the props backstage were absolutely useless. They were mostly backdrops or other scenery pieces. I extended my search to the back hallway, but the more I looked, the more frustrated I became. I couldn't scour every last room trying to find something I could throw together, and the likelihood of me succeeding in getting a working prop was minimal to none.

I was about to give up on the whole thing when I noticed music coming from down the hall. What caught my attention was the fact that it was Mettaton's voice. As I got closer to it, I started to make out some of the lyrics. Were they... insulting someone? I couldn't quite tell, but they were not very nice lyrics. Whatever it was, the sound was cranked. I finally located the source of the music all the way in the kitchen area on the far side of the main lobby.

The only inhabitant of the kitchen was a sulky cat/bear monster. His entire countenance seemed to droop with every jibe from the song as he swept the floor dejectedly. On one counter was a large boombox which had the volume set to max and was playing the same song on loop. Now that I could see this guy and the kitchen, I could tell that the song was definitely directed at him and how bad he was at his job.

I vaguely wondered why he let the boombox play at full volume when it so obviously made him feel terrible. I wasn't particularly interested in that, though, and I turned to start heading back when I noticed that the monster was muttering something under his breath. I inched a little closer and realized that he was complaining about Mettaton, mumbling several obscenities at the boxy robot. Suddenly, an idea struck me.

With a well placed vine, I shoved the boombox off of the counter and it crashed to the floor, breaking into a number of pieces. The music gave a terrible wail as the CD skipped, then resumed as if nothing happened. The noise was enough to startle the monster and he turned wide eyes on the broken remains lying on the ground. I surfaced, then blasted the boombox to bits to make the stupid song stop.

"Whoa! Whoa there, little buddy! You can't do that! Are you trying to get me in trouble?!" The monster dropped his broom and rushed over to stare mournfully at the electronic shambles. "There goes this week's pay." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I would have left it running if I had known it meant so much to you," I stated dryly. He instantly dead-panned, letting all anxiety drop from his face.

"Yes. I loved that song. I wanted to listen to it all day long. Not!" His face twisted into a maniacal smile vaguely reminiscent of one of my own. "I'm surprised I didn't smash the thing myself," he chuckled. I wasn't expecting him to give such a snarky response. Usually I was the only one who did that.

Suddenly, his panic came back and he glanced around nervously. "The thing is, little buddy, if my boss sees what's happened here..." His voice trailed off, letting the silence and facial expression say more than words ever could. His eyes flicked down at the floor and his beaten-down expression overwhelmed any spirit he had in him.

"Mettaton's a pretty terrible guy, huh?" I said with a big smile. "Golly, I bet you're just itching to get your hands on him, aren't you?" He snorted.

"If only I could, little buddy." His strained grin came back. "You don't know the half of what that guy does to me. He treats me like I'm his personal slave! This morning he got after me for not wearing something more 'suited' for the day. Like I'm supposed to know what that means. I swear, I think half the time he makes up rules just to see how much he can make my life suck." In a flash, the rebellion was gone, replaced with defeat. "But it's not like I can do anything about it down here at the bottom of the food chain."

I laughed shrilly. "What if I told you that you could?" I leaned forward, giving him a menacing grin. "If you really hate Mettaton so much, why don't you just kill him?"

His expression went flat again. "Right. Because I can totally take out a combat enhanced robot by myself. Do I look like a fighter to you?!" I only chuckled.

"True. You'd probably die if you tried to do it on your own. But you wouldn't be on your own. You'd have me." The monster's face remained emotionless.

"Hate to break it to you, little buddy, but you're a flower," he stated as if that explained anything. I glared at him.

"I know how to kill Mettaton. I'd do it myself, but I don't want anybody to see me."

"So you're using me as bait." He stretched, moaning slightly. "I'd love to help you, little buddy, but I don't have a death wish. I'd rather keep my life. After all, it's the only thing I have left." I raised an eyebrow, unable to resist a witty comeback.

"You have a life? Really? I couldn't tell." He sank visibly, then covered it by bending down and scooping up the remains of the boombox and throwing the mess into a trash bin. He abruptly grinned, sniffing out a short laugh.

"Nowhere to go but up, huh, little buddy?" My smile returned. This guy was pretty pathetic, but I could definitely use him. With a bit of manipulation, he would be perfect for the job.

"Think of it as a performance. He's on stage right now, so the audience will just think it's part of the show. All you have to do is give everyone something to look at while I hide behind you. You won't even have to be the one who kills him. Once I get close enough, I can hit Mettaton's weak spot. And then, boom! No more Mettaton."

He looked nervous, biting his lower lip and glancing around hastily. "But. Um. That would never work. Mettaton never lets anybody else on stage. How do I know I can even trust you? You're just a little weirdo flower I just met."

I growled, losing my patience. "Do you really want to sweep floors and flip burgers for the rest of eternity? Who would ever pass up an opportunity like this?" Something about that struck him, and he jolted out of his void of anxiety. He stood in stunned silence for an agonizingly long time. Suddenly, he started laughing.

"Fine. I'll do it. I've already wasted my life anyway." I grinned. For once I had actually managed to convince someone to see things my way.

The monster insisted on stopping by one of the costume rooms in the back hall and picking out a suitable outfit, one that covered his face and had a billowing black cloak. It was a bit over-the-top, but it would be perfect for what I needed it for. My main concern was the amount of time it took for him to throw it on and stare at himself in the mirror.

After an eternity of dramatic cape swooshing, my new villain was ready. He entered the backstage, looking like he was born to step out on stage. Mettaton noticed him almost immediately since he was still on edge. I grinned at the scene, preparing for the grand entrance. The stage was set.

Then suddenly the monster I was using as a distraction stopped in his tracks, his eyes going wide. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" he abruptly shouted. All eyes turned to him, confused at the newcomer.

"What is the meaning of this interruption?" Mettaton snapped, placing a hand on his hip. The other monster suddenly looked anxious again, looking like he was bout to turn and make a run for it. I prepared some vines to wrap around his ankles just in case he tried. He stammered for a bit, then found his voice again.

"You go around plastering your face on literally every surface you can manage, but that's not even what you really look like?!" He seemed completely dumbfounded by Mettaton's transformation. I grimaced, waiting for an opportunity to attack the narcissist robot.

Mettaton paused, his eyes going wide. "Burgerpants? Is that you?" he asked. The cat-like monster let out a nervous laugh.

"What? No, of course not!" he lied. He glanced down at the ground where he knew I would most likely be. "Any time now would be great, little buddy," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, directing the comment at me.

Mettaton recovered from his momentary shock, pointing a finger dramatically. "Regardless, you are interfering with my glorious production! I demand that you leave at once!" Having Mettaton order him about gave the smaller monster some backbone and he stood up straight against Mettaton.

"You know what? No! I have been cast down for too long! I used to look up to you! I wanted to be just like you! But you smashed those hopes and dreams into little bitsies, treating me like garbage! I am so sick of it!" He shoved one arm to the side dramatically, letting his cloak swirl around in a neat flourish. It was perfect.

"You have treated me like trash for the last time! It's about time someone put you in your place!" To my great surprise, magic shot from his hand forming streaks of claws. The energy slashed through Mettaton's heart, shattering glass and electronics. I blinked as Mettaton gasped before falling to his knees. Electricity danced across his whole body. The robot stammered, glitches marring his voice.

"I-it was a joke!" he managed to say. "It was just for fun! You're my favorite employee, darling!" He grit his teeth, glancing at the ground. "Have you really hated me so? After all I did to take you in under my wing?" He brought a hand up and gripped his chest, over-emphasizing his wounded appearance.

Burgerpants suddenly looked shocked, realizing what he had done. I scowled, tired of this charade. I surfaced backstage and summoned a ring of pellets, collapsing them in on Mettaton. That triggered a chain reaction and the robot exploded into hundreds of pieces. The audience gasped, ducking out of the way of the shrapnel that came their way. The whole room was stunned. Mettaton had just died before their eyes.

Immediately, one member of the crowd pointed at the monster I had used as a distraction. "You!" they shouted. "You murderer!" Noise suddenly erupted throughout the room and Burgerpants took a couple of steps backwards, looking very uncomfortable.

"No, wait! It wasn't me! A little flower made me do it!" He kneaded his hands, then turned and fled from the crime scene. I only laughed, diving under the floor of the stage. That had worked out surprisingly well. I checked that off my to do list and moved on.

" _You know, Monsters are so weird. Sometimes I can't understand how you can be nice all the time. Even when you're angry, it's practically unheard of for monsters to hurt each other."_

" _I dunno. It just seems like common sense to me. No one wants to be hurt, so why should we hurt others? Everyone is so much happier when we all get along."_

I spotted Papyrus walking up the trail to Snowdin on his way from Waterfall. Walking was a relative term since he moved as fast as I could normally run. He practically skipped while carrying a plate full of his latest attempt at cooking, lofting it high for the world to see. I had to push myself to get ahead of him, popping up a few feet in front of him.

"Howdy, Papyrus!" I shouted, hoping to get his attention before he barreled over me. Thankfully, he skidded to a stop long before that would be a problem.

"Wowie! It's a talking flower! And it knows my name! This is the greatest day of my life!" I gave him a sideways smirk, amused by his usual antics.

"Oh, everyone knows your name, Papyrus. Why, you're the most popular person of all! After all the hard work you've done to make it into the Royal Guard? Boy, you've gone above and beyond to achieve your dreams! Everyone's rooting you on to become the greatest!" The string of lies issued forth from my mouth easily enough. I found that there were two ways to manipulate people, one was to insult them, and the other was to encourage them. I already knew that insults and threats were ineffective against Papyrus, so I would go with the other tactic, even if they were all lies.

Strangely, though, I found that something about that statement bothered me. I wasn't lying about Papyrus working so hard to get into the Royal Guard, and yet he still wasn't in it. He was good friends with Undyne, wasn't he? I shoved the thought aside, focusing back on Papyrus.

Papyrus posed, boosted by all the compliments. "It's hard to root for me to be the greatest when I already am! For I am the Great Papyrus! Nyeh heh heh heh heh! At last, someone recognizes how worthy I am of the title!"

"Oh it's not just me. Lots of people love and admire you!"

"As well they should! Now what can I do for you, my little flowery friend?"

I grinned, giving him my best innocent smile possible. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower! And I am your number one fan!" That statement was actually probably true since Papyrus didn't have any fans. "As for what you can do for me..." You could kill your brother. That would be great. "Just being in your presence is an honor!"

"Wowie!" Papyrus cried. "This really is the best day of my life!" He rattled his bones doing a little jig in place. Then he composed himself, bringing his spaghetti front and forward. "Since you're such a big fan, I'll bet you would really like a taste of my home-cooked pasta! So just this once, I shall allow you, my great fan, the chance to try the magnificence of my freshly made spaghetti!"

I grit my teeth, trying my best to not let my face falter. "Err, um..." Papyrus stared intently at me for a long moment. When I didn't respond, he smirked at me.

"I see you are hesitating. No doubt you are so awe-struck by this opportunity that you are unsure of how to respond. Worry not, flower! I, the great Papyrus, have plenty more where this came from! Nyeh heh heh!"

My false smile slipped. I couldn't compliment the spaghetti and be forced to eat the mess. It just wasn't going to happen. "I'd rather eat a sock," I intoned. I couldn't help it.

"Wowie! You must have some pretty tasty socks!" Papyrus said without missing a beat. "You should give one to my brother. He's starting a sock collection!" He sighed, letting his countenance drop a little. "Ah, my brother. How saddening. What would he ever do without such a cool guy like me taking care of him?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Knowing how messy he is? He'd probably totally trash your guys' house." Papyrus shook his head knowingly. It did seem odd how much the brothers cared for each other considering the fact that everything Sans did seemed to annoy Papyrus. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

"Luckily," Papyrus bubbled, "he does not have to live without me! Nyeh heh heh! He's stuck with me forever!" I cocked my head thoughtfully.

"You know, you shouldn't have to take care of him all the time." Papyrus scratched his jaw with a look of contemplation on his face.

"No, I suppose not. But I could not leave him to fend for himself! He is my brother!" I scoffed.

"Not that he does anything for you. Why do you keep him around? He's nothing but dead weight. Does he even do anything?" Papyrus laughed.

"Oh, Sans does lots of things! Just. Um. Don't ask me what." I narrowed my eyes. He was not going to avoid my question that easily.

"See? You can't even come up with anything he actually does. Even when he's working, he's usually just slacking off, and I bet all the money he earns goes straight to Grillby's, doesn't it? He doesn't pick up after himself, he doesn't pay his way... Honestly! Why do you put up with him?"

Papyrus abruptly fell eerily silent. For that split second, his contemplative expression reminded me of his brother. Then the moment passed and Papyrus was back to his normal self. "It's like I said before! If I don't take care of him, who will? He is my brother after all! Nyeh heh heh!" He straightened and placed the hand that wasn't holding the spaghetti on his hip, gazing off into the darkness. "Besides, Sans does work hard. Even if he needs a good push in the right direction sometimes. And that's what he has me for! No one is better at motivating him than I am! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

I scowled. For just that brief period, I thought I had struck a chord with him, but he remained stubborn as usual. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that nothing I said would push Papyrus to hurt anyone, much less his own brother. Even though Papyrus was obviously annoyed by Sans, the cheery skeleton was too nice and naive. The tactic I had used to turn Burgerpants against Mettaton would not work with the skeleton brothers.

Papyrus noticed my sour expression and gave me a huge smile. "You'll see. Once you get to know Sans, he's not so bad. Here, he should be working at his station up ahead! I'll introduce you two!" He reached down and scooped me up into his arms and resumed his relentless pace towards Snowdin. I let out a wail of dismay, but Papyrus didn't seem to care.

"No, no! I've already met your brother! I'm perfectly fine not saying hi. In fact, seeing him is the opposite of what I want to do right now!" I cried, struggling against Papyrus's hold. It was no wonder Papyrus and Sans had been so unthreatened by me before. I was like a child in the skeleton's arms. All that did was make me even more anguished.

Thankfully, Papyrus stopped and glanced down at me. "Oh, I see now... The two of you are in cahoots! I bet you said all those terrible things about him just to make me feel better about myself! Did Sans send you? Nyeh heh heh! My brother does the strangest things sometimes!" I couldn't help but give Papyrus a baffled expression. What in the world was he on about?

"Trust me on this, I would never willingly work for your brother," I said as nicely as I could.

Papyrus grinned at me and gave me a wink. "Oh, of course not! Never! Wink wink!" I barely kept myself from groaning. Didn't this guy ever take a hint? The skeleton shrugged before putting me on his shoulder. "Alrighty," he said, "Just for you, I shall give Sans's station a miss. Where would you like to go instead?"

I gave him a blank stare, unsure of what to say. "Um..." I hadn't thought this far in advance. It was one thing to want to mess with Papyrus and a completely different thing to come up with how. I had wanted to manipulate him into killing someone like I had with Burgerpants, but I doubted that I really could.

"I'll go wherever you want to go, Papyrus," I said hesitantly. In reality, I wanted to go hide in a hole and think for a while, but I knew that doing that would likely result in a quick reset. Papyrus was entertaining enough that maybe if I hung around him for long enough, I might be able to come up with a way to manipulate him. Maybe even turn him against his brother.

Papyrus chuckled at my remark. "And why wouldn't you? Everywhere Papyrus goes is the best place to be!" With that, he resumed his journey forward, carrying me along with him.

" _What about yourself? Shouldn't you care for your own needs before you worry about any one else's?"_

" _We do! It's just that... Well, I feel happy when other people are happy. So when I help out others, I am helping myself in a way."_

" _I guess that kind of makes sense."_

"Augh!" Papyrus cried, standing in the doorway of his house. I peeked around Papyrus's shoulder to take in the full beauty of the disaster that stood before us. "What did he do to my kitchen?!" He sounded satisfyingly horrified. I grinned, knowing full well what Sans had done to the kitchen. Flour coated nearly every surface and a dozen or more dirty dishes riddled the counters, He hadn't even bothered putting anything in the sink, probably because the sink was too tall for the shorter skeleton to reach anyways.

In a whirlwind, Papyrus set out to sweep the counters clean and began scrubbing away at the mixing bowls. "See?" I remarked. "He'd totally trash your guys's house." Papyrus only grunted in irritation.

"I swear, sometimes it's like he does this on purpose just to make my life miserable! As if I, the Great Papyrus, don't already have enough things to worry about!" He peered in the oven where the pie was still baking. "What was he even making?! It's like a quiche, but not!"

The pleasant aroma of pie hit my nose and I frowned. It seemed as though Sans had been exchanging recipes with my mother. "It smells like butterscotch-cinnamon pie," I intoned. How had that jerk managed to recreate Toriel's recipe? I was pretty sure that even Asgore didn't know how to make the thing.

"Well, whatever it is, it has totally ruined my kitchen! Away it goes!" With no regard for potentially burning himself, Papyrus pulled the pie out of the oven. The very second the pie left the heat, the alarm on top of the stove blared, showing acute timing to precisely when Papyrus would remove the pie from the oven. That couldn't possibly be an accident. Papyrus took the pie into the living room and set it on the table beside the couch to get it out of the way before returning to the kitchen to complete his cleaning.

"Oh, when I see him next, I am going to give him a piece of my mind!" He glanced at me, then hastily clarified his statement. "N-not literally. I don't even have a mind!" I smirked at him. A more accurate statement had never before been said by the idiotic skeleton.

Papyrus returned to the arduous task of scrubbing down the kitchen, and I sat on his shoulder at a complete loss for what to do. I wanted to somehow get my revenge on Sans, but I had to do so in a way that didn't put me or Papyrus in danger. I had hoped to manipulate Papyrus into hating his brother, but although the skeleton was certainly irritated, he wasn't even close to the brink of hatred. I tried a few more times to point out how terrible Sans was, but Papyrus always blew it off with a "that's just how he is," sort of a remark, and then would explain that that was exactly why he couldn't leave his brother alone.

For reasons beyond my comprehension, Papyrus apparently stuck around Sans because Sans was so irresponsible and lazy. It was a relationship that completely baffled me. Papyrus seemed to think that it was his obligated duty to look after his older brother and keep him out of trouble. I couldn't understand why anyone would hang around someone that annoyed them. It probably had something to do with love, but I had never delved so deeply into the concept.

The memory of some of Sans's words struck me. "I wouldn't expect anyone like you to understand anything about love." I scowled as renewed hatred roiled up inside me. Love was stupid. Any time I had ever cared for someone, I had gotten hurt. Why should anyone care for other people? Didn't they understand that all it did was cause them pain? Papyrus put up with so much crap from Sans, all for the sake of love. Didn't he see that if he ditched his brother, he would never have to worry about that lazy piece of garbage ever again?

Vaguely, I thought of someone that I still felt love for. Chara. I would never doubt Chara. And yet it was because Chara had trusted in me that she was gone. It was my fault. No, love was an idiotic thing. I had once wondered what Chara meant when she had said that she regretted caring for anyone. I now understood. I would never make the mistake of caring for someone ever again.

When Papyrus was done with his cleaning, he stood proudly before the sparkling kitchen. "There, good as new," he proclaimed. "Sorry about all of that. I'll bet you wanted to do something more entertaining than watch me clean. Although my cleaning skills are ne'er unmatched and truly something worthy to behold! Nyeh heh heh!" I shrugged. It wasn't like I had anything better to do. For whatever reason, it was suddenly all I could do to keep myself from bursting into tears.

The skeleton suddenly looked a bit uncomfortable now that he didn't have a specific task at hand. "Now, um..." he ventured awkwardly, "Perhaps I should show you my favorite television show. That's something that friends do together, right? Watch the tube?" I blinked at him. I was about to decline, not wanting to spend hours staring at a pointless show, but then it occurred to me that the main shows were broadcast from Mettaton's studio. This would be the perfect opportunity to see what sort of chaos my earlier adventures had produced.

I gave Papyrus a sly grin, masking the turmoil of emotions that still flooded through me. "Sure, Papyrus. I would love to see what's on TV." He instantly leaped into action, jamming the on button for the television and sweeping me down beside him on the couch. The cushions sagged under the skeleton's weight, forcefully sliding me right next to him. I dug my roots into the couch and purposefully pulled away from him.

"Hey," Papyrus whined, "where's my favorite rectangle?" I looked up to find that the station was turned to a news report being given by a manticore lady. It didn't take me long to figure out that the topic was covering my previous exploits, probably because it was nearly unheard of for any crime to take place in the Underground.

"-transformed randomly on stage, claiming it to be a 'sneak preview' of his new body still under construction by Dr. Alphys." A still image of Mettaton's ugly form flashed up on screen. "The doctor seems to be unresponsive and has yet to leave her lab. We hope to receive more input from her soon."

I glanced at Papyrus, wondering how much of this he understood. He looked thoroughly perplexed, leaning intently forward. Had he referred to Mettaton as his favorite rectangle? Oh, good golly.

"The miscreant responsible for the murder disappeared before any members of the Royal Guard arrived on scene," the news caster continued. The background flipped to show some of the camera views of the stage, now covered in caution tape and shrapnel. Guards bustled about the area, obviously questioning some of the monsters there. "Witnesses claim that he was one of the employees working at MTT resorts, though those reports have yet to be confirmed."

"Hey, that's Undyne!" Papyrus beamed, pointing ecstatically to where the fish lady was directing the investigation. "This must be serious if they called her to go all the way to Hotland. I was wondering what that phone call was about." He watched the screen intently while the description of the monster I had manipulated was given, and a brief clip of him facing down Mettaton on stage played in one corner of the screen. I was pleased to note that I was well out of sight in the camera shot.

"The bullet patterns of the attacks show that there was possibly a second person involved in the crime, though reportedly, no one remembers seeing another monster entering or leaving the area at the appointed time. The attacks of the masked felon took the form of yellow crescents, but before he appeared, Mettaton was attacked by white capsules. These same capsule bullets are confirmed to also be the cause of death according to both video footage and eye witness reports." Strangely enough, watching this was sending a strange feeling of glee through me. I had committed murder and had gotten away with it.

Although, since Mettaton was technically a robot, I wasn't sure if it would count as murder. Wouldn't that be the same as deleting a software or smashing a computer? Mettaton wasn't really alive to begin with, was he? I shrugged away the mental question.

By this point in the news report, Papyrus had brought both of his gloved hands to press against his mouth, hiding his perpetual grin. He looked worried. I had to try very hard to not burst out laughing at how utterly pathetic he looked.

"It seems that someone did that robot in," I remarked casually. Papyrus shook his head stiffly, sitting up straight.

"Nuh-uh! I'll bet you it's part of the show! Clearly, he left it at a cliffhanger to make us on edge until he will make a triumphant appearance in the next episode! Nyeh heh heh! There's no way anyone would actually kill him!"

I only smiled sadly at Papyrus's ignorance. "Then why did they send Undyne down there?" I asked pointedly.

"To make it more believable, obviously! They nearly had me there, but no one pulls a fast one on the Great Papyrus! Yeah! I am way too smart to be fooled by this obvious trickery!" Unable to contain it any longer, I busted out in a terrible fit of laughter. It was a long, mocking sort of laugh brought on by the thrill of knowing that I had completely hoodwinked the idiotic skeleton. "You agree with me then! Clearly, you are laughing at those who would dare try to trick me, the Great Papyrus!" I shook my head in amusement, letting my laughter slowly die down.

I decided to let Papyrus continue to believe whatever the heck he wanted to believe. It was far more entertaining to watch. Papyrus flicked the television off, convinced that the entire news report was falsified media. It was obvious to me that I hadn't been noticed other than the vague reference to my unique bullet pattern, so I wasn't particularly worried about being caught. I didn't need to see the rest of the newscast to know that. Just as long as I didn't use that attack again this reset, I would be fine.

While Papyrus was up, he whipped out his cell phone, wandering into the kitchen and making a call. I raised an eyebrow at him, unsure of what he was doing. "Sans!" he exclaimed into the receiver, "Did you see the news on TV?" A brief pause. "Sans! This is no time for your silly puns! Anyways, I was just calling to see what you thought of it." Another pause. I was really curious to know what the trash bag was saying on the other end of the line, but I would have to overcome the obstacle of clamoring down the couch without hurting myself before I could get close enough to eaves drop.

"Well, I think it's a big hoax!" Papyrus stated, nodding firmly to himself even though his brother couldn't see him. "Some added drama to make us think Mettaton's really dead. What?" He began to pace, his expression unreadable. I leaned over the edge, holding myself up with a vine. "Oh, you know me! I'm always safe! Safety is practically my middle name! Nyeh heh heh!"

My grip slipped and I fell face-first to the floor, landing with a grunt. Papyrus jumped at the sound, whirling around to see what had happened. "Whoopsie Doopsie!" he cried, running to my aid. "I have to go. I'll see you when you get back from work. And don't slack off!" He hung up the phone and pocketed it before lifting me back on his shoulder. "Sorry about that! What would you like to do now, number one fan?"

I was tempted to abruptly slaughter Papyrus out of sheer irony at his safety statement, but knowing that I would likely be killed repeatedly if I tried such a thing prevented me from taking that course of action. The problem with dancing with death was that death had the bad habit of stepping on your toes. Instead, I just shrugged at Papyrus. No ideas were coming to mind. I almost told the skeleton that I had to go, but then what? Where would I go? What would I do?

Papyrus stood up straight, contemplating me while rubbing his chin. I suffered under his scrutiny, waiting for him to respond. It was a bit unnerving having him stare at me when I was only a few inches from his face. At last, he shot his arm high in the air. "Eureka! I've got it!" he exclaimed. "I know precisely what you need!" I gave him a funny look. Now what?

Without explaining anything, he bolted out the door. I hastily wrapped vines around his collar bone before the abrupt motion flung me off of him. The world became a blur of snow and whipping wind tearing against my face. I gave a wail of despair, hoping that the sound would reach Papyrus's ears and end this nightmare. Unfortunately, Papyrus didn't stop, lunging through Snowdin to some unknown destination.

" _It makes me wonder, though. If you help others only to serve yourself, how does that make you any less selfish than those that only care about themselves?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Hm... Nothing, Asriel. I'm just thinking aloud."_

After a wild ride of nauseating running, Papyrus skidded to a halt. "Behold!" I sat up and leaned heavily against his neck, trying hard not to vomit. When I glanced around to take in my surroundings, we were somewhere in the middle of the Snowdin forest. In front of us was a large cardboard box that was only somewhat constructed to make some sort of stand.

I didn't dare open my mouth lest the contents of my stomach decided to issue forth instead of words, so I just cocked my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. Papyrus started chuckling, looking proud of himself. "Impressed? This is the one and only Royal Guard station for the soon-to-be famous Royal Guardsman. Me! I, the Great Papyrus, master architect, designed and built this beauty all by myself!"

His words stood in stark contrast to the flimsy cardboard flopped in the snow. I didn't have the energy to bother mocking him anymore. The fool did it all by himself. How was a cardboard box supposed to help me? The run here had sure done the exact opposite of that. This was nothing more than another one of Papyrus's useless shenanigans. I sighed and rested my head against Papyrus's neck, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Papyrus started laughing again, walking towards the box. He stepped inside, carefully trying not to bump any of the walls lest they fall over. His head did smack the top of the box, showering cold snow onto both of us. I was a little bit surprised that there was a wooden pallet on the floor rather than cardboard or snow. He sat down on the pallet and pulled me off of his shoulder, setting me on the ground in front of him.

"Nyeh heh heh! Do you know what this is?" I tried my best to smile at him, but only halfway succeeded.

"A cardboard box?" I ventured flatly.

"Right! But oh so wrong! Although this appears to be a hastily thrown together sentry stand, this is no ordinary cardboard box! It holds a much darker secret! Care to guess what it is?" I chuckled, not caring to know the mind of a lunatic. "It's my club house!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "What better place to spend your time than a good old fashioned box fort?! Nyeh heh heh! You are luckier than you presume, little flower. It is not often that I invite anyone into my top secret club house! Not even Undyne has been in here! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

"She probably doesn't want to come in here," I stated. I should have known that Papyrus wasn't smart enough to come up with anything actually fun to do. With a sigh, I reclined back, looking around the cramped box. It was actually perfectly sized for me, but with Papyrus sitting in here, too, the whole place just felt claustrophobic. "So what's this club of yours for?" I asked. I had nothing better to do, so I might as well hear out whatever stupidity Papyrus had to say.

"Well, you see, I've never had any real purpose for this club house. Until today, of course! I, the Great Papyrus, have finally decided what to call this fort! This is none other than the clubhouse for the great Flowey fan club!"

I sat up with a start. What? I stared at the skeleton with a baffled expression, but his huge grin and sparkling eye sockets radiated with sincerity and joy at his proclamation. Then, gradually, the irony of the situation hit me and laughter bubbled up through my system. I arced my head back and cackled. What a naive, silly idiot!

"Oh, Papyrus! Only you could come up with such a ridiculous notion. I don't have any fans."

"Wrong!" he stated. "I am your fan! Nyeh heh heh! And I suppose, by default, that makes me your number one fan!" I shook my head in bewilderment. Suddenly he stopped, his look of deep thought coming over him again. "Though I do wonder. If I am your number one fan, and you are my number one fan... One and one make two... So wouldn't that mean our combined efforts make us number two fans? Hm..."

I snorted in response. "Sure, Papyrus. We are number two fans of each other. Because that totally makes all the sense in the world."

"Of course it does! Everything I say makes sense!" He started laughing again, looking smug. "And so, it is with great honor that I, the soon-to-be famous royal guardsman, dub thee, Flowey, an official member of my super duper ultra secret club!" I gave another snort.

Suddenly something occurred to me. It was something that had been nagging at me in the back of my mind for a while now. Papyrus always made it a point to bring up the fact that he wasn't a member of the Royal guard yet, but I couldn't actually fathom why. "Hey, Papyrus?" I asked. He leaned forward in anticipation of my question. "Why hasn't Undyne let you into the Royal Guard yet? You've been working so hard, training with her every day, and you're just as good as any of the other schmucks in the Royal Guard, if not better. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense why she hasn't let you in."

I thought of those useless guards in Hotland that I had taken down in one blow, and I was fairly certain that most of the guards in Snowdin were those stupid dogs. Plus, I was pretty sure one of them was even blind. And considering the fact that Undyne was such good friends with Papyrus, it seemed odd that she was the one holding him back from fulfilling his lifelong dream.

This time, it was Papyrus who snorted. His back went stiff and he looked more than a little bit annoyed. "That's what I've been saying this entire time!" he complained. "Why does someone like me have to do so much just to get some recognition!" I cocked my head, thinking.

"Have you tried talking to Undyne about it?"

"Oh, I talk to Undyne all the time! Every day in fact!" He laughed to himself, but I could tell that what I said bothered him. "She told me that she won't let me into the Royal Guard unless I can capture a human." My mouth opened disbelief.

"She said what?! That's ridiculous! No one else has to go through such an impossible task to make it into the Royal Guard!" Papyrus abruptly laughed again.

"You thought so, too, huh? But I have realized something. Obviously she sees how great I am, and knowing my true potential, has assigned me with a mission that no one else in the Royal Guard can be trusted with! And she hasn't let me in yet because she doesn't want any of the others to grow jealous from how great I am! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

I scowled. "Either that or she doesn't want you to join ever." He shook his head.

"Oh, no! That wouldn't be like Undyne at all! She's always complaining that she wishes she had more people in the royal guard. Besides, she's seen how great I am! Why, with her training, I'm practically invincible!" I knew that wasn't true in the least, but I refrained from pointing that out.

Papyrus did have a point, though. It wasn't like Undyne to deny anyone from joining the royal guard so long as they were willing to fight and could hold their own. I had killed Papyrus easily enough before, but he hadn't been trying to fight back or resist at all, which left him vulnerable. And I knew first-hand how freakishly strong he could be when he tried. Something fishy was going on here.

Honestly, I didn't really care about Papyrus. It didn't matter to me whether or not he was in the Royal Guard. The thing that bothered me was the fact that there was something weird going on and I didn't understand the reason why. For most things, I could figure out the reasoning behind monsters' actions, albeit some of those reasons were sheer stupidity. But why would Undyne not help out her best friend? It didn't make sense.

The skeleton moved the conversation onward to cover the agenda for the new Flowey fan club, but I found that I wasn't listening. I sat there, pondering what Undyne's reasons could be. I played through scenarios in my head, and nothing was adding up quite right. Part of me wanted to push the thought aside under the pretense of not actually caring about it, but not knowing someone's intentions bothered me. Especially Undyne who was about as subtle as a club to the head.

I couldn't shake the thought anymore. Besides, going to chat with Undyne would give me something better to do than hang around this stupid cardboard box with Papyrus. I met the idiotic skeleton's gaze, interrupting what he had been in the middle of saying.

"Hey, Papyrus, I have to go." He blinked, though his smile didn't dim.

"Ok," he said after a moment of silence.

"Goodby-"

"Don't!" He cut me off abruptly, sounding harsher than I had ever heard him. "There are never goodbyes! Only see you laters!" I gave Papyrus a level look. Man, this guy was weird.

"Alright, have it your way." I grinned at Papyrus, covering my annoyance. "See you later, Papyrus." He only smiled back in response as I dove below the surface and started heading back to MTT resort.

" _I guess humans and monsters aren't as different as I thought. They're both just as selfish."_

Undyne was easy enough to find since she was at the heart of the crime scene, still investigating the murder of Mettaton. Unfortunately, that also meant that I couldn't talk to her alone. She was pacing, surrounded by guards and other monsters I didn't know. I popped up by her feet, just to the side of her path. She looked distracted, so I couldn't risk her not seeing me and stepping on me.

"Hey, Undyne!" I called. She didn't even pause in her tracks, sparing the smallest of glances down at me.

"I'm busy," she snapped. I knotted my brows together in mock concern.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you can't think and talk to me at the same time. And here I was going to give you some great insight on what happened here." That seemed to get her attention. She froze in place, though she didn't turn to look at me.

She muttered something under her breath, gazing at the wall with a dawning expression on her face. I barely made out her words. "A little flower made me do it..." I raised an eyebrow, not sure what gibberish she was spouting. Abruptly she whirled on me. "Alright, I'm listening," she proclaimed, tensing up as though ready to summon her magic on me. Strangely, she was grinning, though it wasn't a pleasant expression. I decided to match her smile for smile.

"Before I tell you anything, though, I got a question for you." Her eye flickered in annoyance, but she crossed her arms and let me continue. "How come you haven't let Papyrus into the Royal Guard?" She blinked, taken off-guard by the question.

"What? What does Papyrus have anything to do with..." She caught my sour expression and sneered back at me. "I'll let in who I want to let in, ok? You got a problem with that, punk?" I let my expression fall flat, letting her know that the answer was insufficient. She sighed heavily.

"Ugh. Fine. If you really want to know, it's because... well... I don't want to see him get hurt." I raised an eyebrow at her. That didn't make any sense. Thankfully, she kept going with her explanation. "Papyrus means well, but he's too nice and naive to ever go into battle. He'd probably get ripped into little smiling shreds. I..." She looked away. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he ever got hurt because of me."

Well that was a load of crap. Seriously? That was her reasons? That was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. "Are you kidding me?" She rounded on me with a snarl on her lips, fangs bared.

"What, you want a better explanation, punk? That's all you're getting!" I shook my head swiftly in frustration.

"It doesn't make any sense! You don't want him to get hurt, but by holding him back from achieving his dreams, you've already hurt him! Any idiot can see that he tries so hard because he's under the impression that you don't think he's good enough, and that cuts him deeper than any physical wound ever could! You want to be the savior of monster kind and help everyone, but you won't even help your friend!"

Now she looked even more angry. Good. "What's it matter to you? I'm doing what I think is best for Papyrus, and I've been friends with him a lot longer than you. Who the hell are you, anyway?!"

I smirked at her. "I'm Papyrus's number one fan," I said, trying very hard to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. My statement caught her off guard again.

"You're his what?" She looked truly baffled this time, and for good reason. Papyrus didn't have any fans and she knew it.

"Papyrus works really hard. He's way better than about half the idiots you call guards." I glimpsed one of the armored monsters nearby stiffen, taking offense, but I paid him no mind. "Not only that, you've been training him every day for how long now? Besides, you gave him the task of capturing a human, which means that you've basically put him in just as much danger as any other guard, if not more so. You know he's going to put himself in harm's way the moment a human does show up around here. You can't keep him out of battle just because he's not officially a member of the Royal Guard."

She looked hurt, clenching her teeth tightly but saying nothing. It was strangely satisfying, cutting someone down with the truth rather than bullets. I kept going. "Wouldn't it be better if you let him in so then you could assign him to take care of tasks that would keep him happy, but ones that weren't dangerous? Because right now, he's got no direction, which means he's more likely to wind up hurt." I thought of the time I had killed him, how he had confronted me in Snowdin, seeking me out even. On his own, Papyrus was stupid enough to wander directly into the midst of danger.

"If you really cared about Papyrus, you would let him into the Royal Guard. Keeping him out forever is just cruel."

"Fine!" she snapped. "You've made your point. Now I'm going to make mine." She reached down, gripping me firmly around the stem and yanking me into the air. My eyes went wide and I attempted to pull away from her to no avail. In an instant, she had summoned a spear and was holding it to my face. "Why did you kill Mettaton?"

How in the world did she? "What?" I cried, trying hard to feign innocence. "I didn't kill him! It was Burgerpants!"

"We found Burgerpants," she said coldly. "The poor kid came to us, sniveling and crying, saying that he didn't do it. I wasn't sure what to make of his stories of a flower who was behind it all. That is, until you showed up. Now talk!"

Oh crap. Her spear pressed heavily against my cheek, and I could feel it pierce my face. Pain leaked from the wound and I started to sweat. I had no idea how to escape this. Suddenly, fear flowed out of me, and I went calm. She couldn't kill me. No. Not with my determination.

I grinned up at her and started to laugh. "Alright. You got me. You want to know why I killed Mettaton? Because he's a stinking jerk!" Undyne's face remained expressionless. "I was doing all you worthless monsters a favor! You know, in a few months, you'd probably be thanking me for taking that guy down. I know Burgerpants sure wanted him dead. He was just too weak to finish the job!"

"Not liking someone doesn't justify murder," she hissed. "Yeah, Mettaton was a jerk. I wasn't a big fan of that guy either. Doesn't mean I'm about to go kill him." I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, you want to know the real reason I killed him? Because I was bored." I sneered at her, mimicking her expression. "What would happen if I killed someone as influential as Mettaton? What chaos can I sow?" I laughed harshly. "You monsters are all so boring. I have to keep myself entertained somehow."

She snarled at me. "You're insane!"

I only smiled back. I didn't care what she thought. I didn't feel insane. I was just heartless, a soulless husk forced to exist in this stupid timeline forever. Undyne looked like she was about to say more, but I didn't really want to hear it. As far as I was concerned, I was done with this timeline. It wasn't like I had accomplished anything anyway. Besides, I didn't fancy getting speared in the face again. With a smug expression, I reset.


	10. Resets 53 and a half: Deadly Terror

" _Thanks for listening to me, Asriel. Strangely enough, I do feel better."_

" _Anytime, Chara! I'm glad I was able to help."_

I sneered at the garden around me. Part of me was still surprised I had been caught. I had tried so hard to make sure that no one knew I was even there at the time that Mettaton died, but I'd been ratted out. It was frustrating.

At least I had a vague idea of something I wanted to do this time. I couldn't harm Papyrus, and I had been completely unsuccessful in manipulating him into doing anything useful, but I could manipulate Undyne. She had proven to be fairly easy to convince on many occasions. I wanted to see what I could do with her, and this time she wouldn't be able to pin any murders on me since technically I hadn't actually killed anybody.

And so, for the billionth time, I made my way through the Underground to Waterfall. I vaguely thought to stop by the river today since the trip would be faster and I wouldn't have to go all the way by myself, but once again, the river person was nowhere in sight. I vaguely wondered where they went. It had been forever since I had seen the hooded figure. I shrugged before reluctantly taking the long way around to Undyne's house.

When I finally reached her giant fish-shaped home, I was greeted with the sounds of Undyne and Papyrus attacking the kitchen with tomatoes. I emerged immediately outside the door and let out a sigh of exasperation. I had forgotten about that. The last time I had interrupted them, I hadn't been able to talk to Undyne at all and had instead been roped into an entire day of being led around by Papyrus. I didn't really want to deal with the useless skeleton yet again.

Movement caught my eye and I glanced over to see a little yellow monster attempting to peer in through one of the windows. The armless lizard looked pretty pathetic as he teetered atop a small pile of rocks to get a good look. Out of curiosity, I decided to move closer.

"What'cha doing?" I asked casually. The monster jumped in surprise and tumbled maladroitly to the stone floor. He quickly recovered, leaping to his feet as though he was used to falling. Considering how top heavy he looked, that didn't surprise me in the least.

"Yo! Dude! Don't scare me like that!" He looked me over before giving me a huge grin. "Yo! Did you come to spy on Undyne, too? Man, isn't she so cool?!" I snorted in amusement. What a wimp. The kid continued, seeming to miss my derogatory grunt. "That big skeleton is soooo lucky! Man. What did he do to get in her good graces?"

I sighed and shook my head, preparing to leave and come back later. This was all just a big waste of my time. Then the monster kid piped up again. "Yo! You want to see Undyne, right? Here! I'll let you climb on my shoulders so you can get a better look!"

The comment took me a bit off guard and I started to chuckle. "No thanks, I'm kind of rooted to the ground." I could uproot myself if I wanted to, but I had a better view swimming underneath than I ever would trying to crawl on this miniature dinosaur. "You know what'd be really useful is if you distracted Papyrus. I'd really like to get the chance to talk to Undyne, but I can't do that with Papyrus in there." The kid gave me a wide-eyed look of understanding.

"Yo! That would be awesome if you could actually talk to her!" He glanced back to the window where I could still hear the distinct sound of fruit pelting the wall followed by a cheer. "But, um... I don't know how I could distract that skeleton guy."

I gave the monster a huge grin. "That part's easy enough. Just knock on the door and ask Papyrus to show you all of his puzzles. Trust me. That will keep him busy for hours!" The kid looked uncomfortable, bouncing between his feet.

"Y-you mean. Actually knock on Undyne's door?" He had an expression that was a mix between awe and fear. I barely restrained myself from sighing in irritation.

"Come on, it's not that big of a deal. Here, I'll knock if you're too scared to do it." The kid immediately puffed out his chest, looking slightly offended.

"No way! I'm not scared of anything! You'll see!" He brazenly strode to the door shaped like giant teeth and kicked the thing a few times. The voices inside immediately ceased and an uneasy hush settled over the cavern. The monster kid looked scared to death, but held his ground as the door opened to reveal Undyne gazing out with a confused expression. Her eye settled on the kid and she immediately grinned.

"Heya, punk!" she said cheerily. "What's up?" The dinosaur only stared back.

"Uhhhhhh..." Then something seemed to snap inside the little monster. "Ohmygoodnessthisisactuallyhappening! Yo! Undyne, you are soooo cool!" he continued babbling mostly incoherently with a silly grin on his face. Undyne was still smiling back, but the grin had turned into an awkward one. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

Papyrus took that opportunity to poke his head out behind Undyne. The fish lady glanced between her friend and the stubby lizard in front of her, obviously unsure of what to say. "Um. Love the enthusiasm, kid! But, um..." She settled both hands on her hips, expression twisting into a fierce smile. "This is an elite one-on-one training session! And as such, only the elite may enter!" The kid's eyes went wide as he gazed longingly up at his hero. She sighed, slumping a little.

"You want in, kid?" she asked in a monotone drawl. The monster nodded enthusiastically, nearly falling over from the motion. She sneered. "Well, you better work for it, punk! No loser can just show up and expect to get free training from me! This isn't a preschool! You better be prepared to show you've got what it takes before I even consider taking you on as an apprentice!"

The little monster nearly leaped into the air with excitement. "Yo!" he shouted. "I am so ready!" I sighed in frustration. He seemed to have completely forgotten what he was supposed to be doing. I glanced to the side, feeling betrayed. "But, um... Yo! You have to let my friend in, too!" I blinked. Friend? When I looked up, all eyes were suddenly pointed in my direction.

Undyne's wicked grin was trained on me and I abruptly got a very bad feeling about where this conversation was headed. "So, you want to become an elite member, huh?" I swallowed nervously. No, not really. But what could I do? This was the perfect opportunity to get into her circle and talk to her. I overcame my moment of dread and smiled broadly.

"You betcha!" The words sounded hollow to me, but Undyne seemed content as she leaned back and cracked her neck, letting her muscles ripple.

"Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed, unable to keep silent any longer. "We're going to have a party!" The monster kid looked like he was about to faint from excitement.

Undyne started to laugh at Papyrus's comment. "Not yet we aren't! First thing's first, we gotta whip these wimps into shape!" She straightened and stepped towards the monster kid in a threatening manner.

"But, Undyne," Papyrus muttered, a concerned look on his face, "you never put me through any tests before training me." She shot him a look over her shoulder.

"Yeah? Well you aren't a member of the Royal Guard yet, so shut it!" He complied, but looked distinctly uncomfortable. She whirled on the monster kid again. "Alright, punk. You think you've got the determination to make it to the top?"

The shrimp immediately snapped to attention, looking like he was saluting even without any hands. "Yes, ma'am!" he shouted enthusiastically. Something about Undyne's phrasing caught my attention. Do I have determination? You bet I do. I found myself straightening as well, a confident grin stretching across my face. This wasn't at all what I had intended, but by golly, I was going to make it happen. Undyne turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

"Bring it," I jeered. She grinned back, satisfied.

"Excellent! Let's begin phase one then, shall we?"

"Ooh! Ooh! I love phase one! That's the one that includes deadly spikes, right? Kids love those!" Papyrus had gotten over his doubts about sending children through a training regime and had picked up on the little lizard kid's enthusiasm. I opened my mouth to object to Papyrus's comment, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything that might ruin my chances at talking to Undyne.

The royal guard captain looked pleased at Papyrus's comment, turning to him with an extraordinarily happy expression. "Oh, yeah," she declared. "And fire. And swinging blades. And cannonballs. And-" My stomach was starting to churn. She was making this stuff up, right?

Papyrus gasped, sparkles lighting up his eye sockets. "Undyne, you don't mean...?"

"That's right." She put an arm around Papyrus's shoulder, slapping him on the back. Then they both cried out in unison.

"The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!"

What in the world were they on about? The monster kid still looked awestruck and excited as the demonic duo listed the forms of our potential demise. I sat rooted in place, mouth agape, praying that they were joking. Unfortunately, they sounded sincere.

"But first," Undyne crowed, "we have to get there! It's a full on sprint to the Snowdin forest! Fuhuhuhuhu! Afraid? You haven't seen anything yet!" She crouched, muscles tensed as she readied herself to run. "Last nerd there is a rotten egg!" Both she and Papyrus took off down the cavern, followed by the teetering form of the little yellow lizard monster.

I shook my head in bewilderment before diving into the ground and heading towards Snowdin. The nice thing was that, unlike all the runners on foot, I wasn't confined to the winding paths of Waterfall. I wasn't entirely certain where this gauntlet of doom thing was supposed to be, but I did know the fastest way to the Snowdin forest, courtesy of my many resets and all the time I spent rushing from one side of the Underground to the other.

Just as I reached the end of Snowdin Village, I stopped and hastily looked around for any sign of Undyne or Papyrus. I had completely lost track of them on my way there, and for all I knew, they were far ahead of me. Those two were stinking fast! Thankfully, I caught sight of them plowing through the village. They were neck and neck with each other, neither one relenting.

As I watched them run, it almost looked like Papyrus was purposefully keeping pace with his superior officer. Any time Undyne stumbled in the slightest, the skeleton would get ahead before easing back behind the crazy fish lady and matching her relentless speed. It was an odd thing to note, and I vaguely wondered just how strong the skeleton really was. I knew that Sans kept the full extent of his powers hidden, but did Papyrus do the same?

The more I thought of that, the less it made sense. Papyrus was way too stupid and naive to keep anything a secret. Besides, wasn't he trying to impress Undyne so he could make it into the Royal Guard? No, being sneaky wasn't in his nature. I was probably just imagining things.

They were gaining on me pretty quickly. In a flash, they zoomed past and it was all I could do to keep up with them. Thankfully, they didn't go too much further before skidding to a stop next to a giant ravine. Undyne doubled over, grasping her knees and panting, and Papyrus flopped backwards in a clatter of bones, also breathing heavily. I, too, felt winded, but most of my movement was fueled by magic power, so I was more drained of magical energy than anything physical. The wimpy kid was nowhere in sight.

Papyrus and Undyne exchanged grins as they both wheezed and puffed. Then Undyne collapsed beside her skeleton companion, howling with laughter. "I haven't raced like that in ages!" she proclaimed between gasping chortles. "Geez, Papyrus! How in the heck did you keep up with me?!"

He stuck his chin in the air, looking proud of himself. "Nyeh heh heh heh heh! I am the Great Papyrus! There is no greater secret than being me! It all comes from hard work and perseverance!" He leveled his gaze to meet Undyne's, then gave her a sickly sweet expression. "I also couldn't do it without being trained by someone as great as you. For truly, you are very great."

Undyne looked touched. "Awww, Papyrus! I think you're pretty great, too."

This sappy stuff had better stop. I cleared my throat, interrupting the two of them. They jumped, noticing for the first time that I was there. Instantly, Papyrus leapt to his feet. "Oh-ho! Our flowery friend has arrived! Nyeh heh heh! I was not expecting you to show up so soon! Clearly, I have underestimated you!" I rolled my eyes, then noticed that Undyne was peering at me suspiciously. I met her expression with a challenging grin.

"Ok, ok," she sneered, "so maybe you were able to keep up with us, but that doesn't mean anything! How in the world do you even move, anyway?! You're a flower!" The way she looked down at me annoyed me to no end.

"Oh, I'm sorry you're too stupid to figure out something like that," I retorted. Thankfully, Papyrus butted in before I could insult her further.

"Maybe he can fly!" he shouted, pointedly ignoring my negative attitude. I grumbled softly and reminded myself that I was trying to get on Undyne's good side this run through. The fish lady turned a raised eyebrow towards the skeleton.

"Fly? Really, Papyrus?"

"You never know! Think of it! He doesn't have legs, so he must move somehow! I bet he can grow little leaf wings that rotate like a helicopter!" He stared up in space, clearly imagining the exact functionality of how a flower could possibly fly. The look I gave Papyrus closely matched Undyne's.

"I move underground," I intoned before any more nonsense could spew forth from his mouth. "Anyway, what's this test thing you're going to put us through?"

Undyne joined Papyrus in standing up, having recovered from the long run. "Not so fast," she declared. Her glare implied that she hadn't missed my insult, but she disregarded it for Papyrus's sake. "The rotten egg hasn't showed up yet. He's the one who pulled you into this, so you better make sure you both go into this together. Got it, punk?" I let out a frustrated sniff, but refrained from saying anything.

We waited there for an agonizingly long time. Papyrus rattled off some story about painting the natural rock formation to make it look more like a wooden bridge and Undyne emphasized how deadly and awesome this thing was. I sat there in stoic silence, hoping that the stupid monster kid would show up soon so I wouldn't have to sit through this torture any longer. I thought about trying to pull Undyne aside and talking to her, but the chances of her listening to me were minimal at this point. Maybe if she already trusted me, she would actually consider what I had to say. And so, though I was internally suffering, I waited patiently like a good little flower.

Finally, the endless white snow was broken by a dot of yellow as the little monster kid made his way towards us. He tripped and fell a few times, but always got up a split second later. I glared at his approach, willing him to move faster with every step. Strangely, though he wasn't nearly as fast as the other two monsters, he didn't seem as winded as they had been when he finally made it up to us.

"Yo!" he called as he jogged up the last couple of feet. "Undyne, you are sooo fast! Oh man! I want to be as fast as you when I grow up!" She grinned at him, clearly favoring this kid more than me.

"Oh yeah?" she exclaimed. "You'd better keep pushing yourself, kid! Guess who's the rotten egg!" She stuck her tongue out at him. His eyes went wide and he hastily looked around, finally noticing for the first time that I had beaten him.

I gave him an innocent smile. Served him right. "Yo! How did you get past me?!" The kid looked thoroughly perplexed. I didn't bother pointing out the amount of opportunities I would have had to pass him from the countless times he had face-planted on the way here. It was a wonder his nose wasn't permanently smashed in.

"Sheer dumb luck," I lied. Undyne flashed a distrustful look at me, but I paid her no mind. I was getting used to her hating me, and I barely held back a sneer as I directed my next comment at her. "So now that he's here, you gonna explain to me why we're all gathered at this giant ravine?"

Strangely, it was Papyrus who started laughing. "Oh ho! This is no ordinary ravine! This here is a beauty that Undyne and I created together! Secretly, it is the most dastardly of traps, sure to ensnare any human who would dare try to pass through this area! That is what makes this... The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror!" He posed dramatically, looking proud of himself.

I gazed down into the ravine, the gap so wide that it would be completely impassible if it weren't for the narrow stretch of land decorated to look like a rickety bridge. Attached to the sides of the cliff were several mechanisms and cannons. As I watched, the devices sprang into life, presumably having been activated by the Royal Guard captain or her apprentice. I was actually surprised to see that Papyrus had played a part in building this thing since the deadly blades and flame throwers seemed out of character for someone as friendly as him to have built.

Heck, if a human did come down here, he would probably try to make friends with it rather than try to harm the thing. I couldn't see him willingly put any living creature through this death trap. And yet here I was, facing down my own doom. I gave him a concerned look, trying to judge whether he was really serious about making me do this.

Papyrus seemed content to let us run to our deaths. It occurred to me that the stupid skeleton probably saw the flames and blades as being something considered cool and awesome. When I scanned the obstacle course, it actually did look pretty neat, in a deadly sort of a way. It was entirely possible that Papyrus didn't even understand the concept of "deadly."

I sighed and accepted my inevitable demise. Not that I would die permanently. That was the beauty of determination, and I was certainly determined to take up Undyne's challenge, if only to prove that I could. Unfortunately, I wasn't really sure how I would go about crossing the bridge. Normally, I got past this area and the other gaps around Snowdin forest by plunging underneath the ground. I sincerely doubted that Undyne would let me skip past without actually crossing the bridge, though.

While I was contemplating, both Undyne and Papyrus began an explanation of what we were supposed to be doing. Though Papyrus seemed more interested in talking about how the gauntlet itself functioned. Undyne was just itching to throw one of us in. The dumb lizard kid seemed as excited by all of this as Papyrus, thrilled that his idol was paying attention to him.

"Alllllright!" Undyne whooped when Papyrus finished his explanation. "Who wants to go first?" That seemed like a silly question to me since the answer was pretty obvious as the monster kid immediately started jumping up and down, calling out his eagerness. The fish lady totally ignored him and gave me one of her gigantic toothy grins. "Thank you for volunteering!" I rolled my eyes. I didn't give her the satisfaction of pointing out that I hadn't volunteered, instead smirking at the obstacle course and moving to the edge of the land bridge, feeling determined to beat this thing.

I was roughly shoved aside by the yellow dinosaur rushing past. He had clearly misinterpreted which person Undyne had been referring to. He sprinted over the bridge and was immediately under assault by various weaponry attacking from all sides. He screeched like a girl and backpedaled just in time to avoid being sliced in half by a swinging blade, then had to jump while a cannonball whizzed beneath his feet. The spectacle was amusing enough that I actually started to laugh.

A swift kick took me in the back of the head, ending my moment of elation. "Get in there, you!" Undyne snarled. "You can't just sit back and watch while other people do all the work!" I mirrored her scowl, then turned to the task of trying to cross the bridge.

Not having feet made this challenge almost impossible. There was no way in heck I was going to crawl across the bridge by my roots. That seemed like a great way of getting myself pruned. I grimaced at the swinging pendulums when a crazy idea suddenly struck me. With Undyne edging me forward, I made the irrational decision and went with plan insanity.

I whipped out one of my roots, shooting it out as a long vine that wrapped around the base of the blade nearest to me as it passed. This particular blade was swinging in a diagonal sweep over the bridge, so as it swung forward, it took me with it. I had hoped that the momentum would carry me through a full swing where I could catch some air and gracefully latch onto the next pendulum. Instead, the vine had too much slack and it dragged me across the ground, forcing me onto my back.

This was instantly a problem because it placed me directly in the path of the blade. The sharpened metal reached the peak of its arc, then fell, headed directly for my face. It hit with a resounding squish and my vision went white.

I opened my eyes, back on the edge of the bridge. A split second later, the monster kid rushed past, starting his run at the gauntlet. I scowled at the stupid thing, frustrated that I had died so quickly. I was pretty sure I could do something with the vine and pendulum idea, I just needed to approach the situation more tactfully. Thankfully, I was able to anticipate Undyne's kick this time, dodging to the side before her foot made contact with the back of my head.

"Get in there, you! You can't just sit back and watch while other people do all the work!" I glanced up, looking for a better anchor to latch on other than the pendulum itself. Stretching over my head was a large rod, the axle holding a number of swinging blades. I grabbed hold of it with a vine and pulled myself into the air. From there, my vantage point of the obstacle course was significantly less daunting. I could better observe the steady swing and pattern of each part of the course. I also got a better look at the annoying lizard kid's close calls with death, which was satisfying to watch.

I stopped to observe him run the course for a bit, still trying to get the rhythm of the swinging pendulums down. Swish, swish, cannonball, fire, swish. I blinked. Maybe it was my imagination, but it almost looked like the stupid kid running the course had been yanked backwards just before getting skewered on a blade. I squinted my eyes at him, trying to see if I could catch what he was doing. Again, he was pulled away just in time to miss dying. For that brief second, he had glowed blue. I glanced back at Papyrus who was quietly observing the kid.

Papyrus had seemed a bit too willing to let us go into this obvious death trap. But would it maybe be not so deadly if he were affecting the results? I narrowed my eyes at his unblinking gaze. I quickly shrugged the thought off. That seemed way too precise for the skeleton. Besides, I had died once already and he hadn't saved me then. I was probably just thinking too hard. I refocused my attention on the course and readied myself to enter it properly.

The blade that had so recently caused my death swung a short ways below me and I caught hold of it. As it fell, I released my vine on the top of the gauntlet and fell with the blade, swinging with the full arch. This worked much more successfully than before and I cleared the ground easily enough, launching into the air. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to grab onto on the other side. With a grimace, I swung back down, following the blade. Thankfully, I seemed to be relatively safe despite being tied to a pendulum of death over a giant chasm.

A cannonball whizzed by, missing me by a mile since it was headed for the course and not my face. This time, when the blade peaked, I shot another vine up to the pole on top and leapt into the air, swinging dangerously close to a ball and chain. I steadied myself with an anchored vine into the ground until I stopped moving, then glanced up to the next section of gauntlet.

The blades running perpendicular to the bridge wouldn't help me get a swing going in the proper direction, but I probably wouldn't need that trick again. My vines themselves could easily become pendulums, so long as I placed them right.

Now that I wasn't in immediate danger, I noticed cheering and encouragement coming from behind me. Some of it was directed at me, but a lot of it was directed at the monster kid who was getting very close to the end. Speedy little bugger. I watched the beating rhythm of the pendulums in front of me, waiting for a break between them.

There.

I shot a vine through the gap, up to the overhead beam further down the track. Unfortunately, the blades converged again, neatly slicing my vine in two. I growled in frustration as useless plant matter dropped and shattered into dust. I really should have anticipated that, but mostly I was just angry that I was having to run this stupid course in the first place. Why the heck had I agreed to this?

"Come on, flower, you're taking too long!" Undyne called behind me. I rolled my eyes. I couldn't help it. I whirled around to face her, dropping to the bridge.

"I'd like to see you try to move across this stupid thing without legs!" I shouted back. I was so frustrated with this whole situation that I no longer cared about insulting her. If she was justified in sending me to my death, then I was most certainly justified in calling out her stupidity.

Papyrus looked concerned and placed a hand on Undyne's shoulder, saying something in her ear. I didn't get much of a chance to observe them because a jet of fire suddenly streamed towards my position. Instinctively, I dove under the rocky surface, only to find myself falling through the air since there wasn't enough rock for me to safely fit under. I shot a vine upwards and rooted myself to the land bridge, preventing my plunge to certain death.

I stared at the underside of the gauntlet. There were flamethrowers and cannons placed down here, but they were all pointed at the bridge up above. I vaguely wondered if this would be considered cheating, but I decided that I didn't care anymore. I planted a vine a ways down the bridge and swung, perfectly safe now that I wasn't under constant attack. Using this method, I was easily able to make it to the far side of the bridge where I poked my head up through the ground and turned around to give Undyne my best smug look.

My attention was immediately brought to Papyrus who was in the center of the gauntlet doing a ridiculous ballet while trying to avoid obstacles. What in the world was he doing? I cocked my head in confusion before bursting out laughing. He looked so stupid leaping about amidst the whirlwind of death. He jumped at the sound of my voice, looking across the bridge to meet my gaze.

"Oh thank God you're alright!" he shouted. "I was so worried when you disappeared!" I raised an eyebrow at him. What a weirdo. Did he jump into the gauntlet to try and rescue me? I vaguely wondered what he had done the time I had died, but I brushed aside the thought. It was in the past and wasn't worth wasting my time thinking about it.

The skeleton was soon forced back into his silly dance when a cannonball went straight for his knees. "Papyrus, get out of there!" Undyne called, cupping her hands to her lips to amplify the sound of her voice.

"Wheeee!" he whooped back. Strangely, he seemed to be having fun despite the threat. Undyne rolled her eyes before also jumping into the fray to pull the idiot out before he got himself killed.

"Yeah, go Undyne!" The kid shouted beside me. I was a bit startled since I hadn't even noticed that he was there. I was also more than a little bit disappointed that he hadn't managed to get himself killed somehow in all the chaos. He jumped up and down, calling out encouragements to the two older monsters as they navigated the obstacle course.

I was a bit surprised when Undyne summoned one of her spears and cleaved some of the blades in half. That was one way to do it. I snickered, knowing that she was going through the same hell I had just endured. She finally reached Papyrus and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, yanking him out of the way of an incoming missile. She ushered him forward, practically throwing him past the next few obstacles. He recovered swiftly, dancing his way towards me and the monster kid.

They both made it through the obstacle course much faster than I had anticipated. I concluded that they probably used the gauntlet as a training course. I wouldn't put it past Undyne anyway. That lady was insane.

Undyne stood tall and proud before us, Papyrus chuckling at her side. "Congratulations," she said with a grin. "You made it through the Gauntlet of Deadly Terror." She leaned forward ominously, looking directly at the stupid kid beside me. "And that's just a taste of the kind of stuff we do on a regular basis! So you've proven that you're not as big of wimps as you look. Don't think that's all it takes to make it into the Royal Guard!" Papyrus grinned and nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah!" he said. "You have to be cool and famous to make it into the Royal Guard! Like me!" Undyne gave him a sideways smirk.

"Hold your horses, you aren't a member of the Royal Guard yet."

"No, but that does not mean that I am not cool and famous! Can I let go of my horses now?"

This conversation was turning into exactly what I had wanted to confront Undyne about. Papyrus was there, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Why isn't Papyrus a member of the Royal Guard yet?" I interrupted. All eyes turned to me and Undyne's grin melted away into a look of surprise, then to embarrassment. Papyrus was the one who answered.

"Nyeh heh heh! I have yet to capture a human! Only then will I be admitted into the Royal Guard! Then I shall be popular, prestigious, and all other things I utterly deserve!"

Undyne grinned in an attempt to mask her previous embarrassment. "Yeah! It takes great feats of strength and courage to make it into the Royal Guard!" I scowled, knowing that Undyne was purposely avoiding the truth.

"None of the other guards have done things like that to make it in," I pointed out. Undyne mirrored my sour expression. Again, though, it was Papyrus who answered rather than the person I was accusing.

"Oh-ho! You see, my good friend, I am not like any of the other guards! I am the Great Papyrus! Clearly, someone as great as I needs to demonstrate the full extent of their powers before achieving the title of Royal Guard!"

That made no sense whatsoever, but Undyne swiftly agreed, trying to avoid the answer. I frowned at them. I would need to corner the stupid fish lady later. Though, the more time that passed, the less I cared about this. Undyne's reasons for keeping Papyrus out of the Royal Guard were incredibly stupid and that really bothered me, but the problem wasn't directly applicable to me. Mostly I just wanted to point out to Undyne how stupid she was being, and although helping people did nothing for me, at least it would keep me from being bored. However, since Undyne was being stubborn about it, I was losing interest in the ordeal rather quickly.

That being said, what else was I going to do? With nothing better to do, why not? And if it was a challenge, then all the better. I just needed to get Undyne alone somehow. I eyed them all carefully before realizing that they were all staring back at me in anticipation. I blinked, faintly aware that Undyne had asked a question.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, caught off-guard.

Undyne let out a snort. "I didn't take you for a space case. Allow me to repeat for you, slow poke. Nice cream. Do you want to go get some?"

I blinked again. I hadn't anticipated anything like that. "Oh, um. Sure." I grinned. "Why not?" With that Papyrus leapt into the air with a whoop before scooping both me and the monster kid up and taking off running.

" _Though, I must ask. What brought you here of all places?_

" _It's where I first fell down. The way back to the human world."_

" _Haha! I remember that! Hey, you aren't thinking of going back, are you?"_

" _No. Never. I hate that place."_

The nice cream would have been nicer if my stomach wasn't doing cartwheels. I clutched my stem trying hard to not retch. I was slightly annoyed that I could still feel so sick even when I technically didn't have any organs. I really, really hated it when people picked me up and sprinted like that, a problem that I never had before I had been turned into a flower.

I was abruptly shoved over by the stupid lizard kid who was leaping about, hoisting his nice cream like a trophy. "Yo!" he cried in my ear, making me wince. "That was sooooo awesome! I can't believe we survived that! Did you see how close I got to those blades? And then when Undyne and Papyrus jumped in, oh man!" He continued to rehash the events of the gauntlet for the twentieth time in a row. I might have attempted to share his excitement, but I was feeling way too sick for that. As it was, it was all I could do to not glare at the moron.

Apparently the nice cream stand was set up in Waterfall next to the iridescent swamp. The idiotic shop keeper had scratched out some of the invaluable ancient writings on the wall so he could write up nice cream flavors and deals of the day in its stead. The blatant destruction of the priceless history annoyed me enough that I refused to order anything from the stand. One thing could be said for the guy, he picked a nice place to set up shop. The crystal formations on the southern wall made a beautiful pattern.

Undyne came behind me and slapped me on the back, a motion that nearly sent me into the ground. "I gotta hand it to you, punk, for a flower, you sure know how to get around. I saw those vine moves you pulled down there on the course."

"Yo! I did want to ask you! How did you get across?! By the time I turned around, I couldn't even see you!" The kid stared at me with a goofy grin on his face. I smirked at him, trying hard to hide my misery.

"Skills," I said. I would have made a more witty remark if I was feeling a little better.

"That's the spirit!" Papyrus said. "It's as I always say! Believe in you!" I blinked, suddenly rocked by what he said. Something about that phrase triggered my memory. I still believe in you. It was what he had told me when I had killed him. I met his eyes, but of course he didn't remember it. He just truly believed in me. What an idiot.

"Yeah, what Papyrus said!" Undyne grinned, gesturing towards me with her own nice cream. "One of the best ways to make it to the top is to have confidence in yourself! Believe that you can do it, no matter what! If you really push yourself, you can accomplish anything!"

"Like me!" Papyrus added, flexing non-existent muscles.

What a bunch of crap. Growing up, I had heard all of that nonsense about becoming anything I wanted. It was a bit like the wishes made on the crystals in Waterfall, dreams made by monsters who believed that we could one day see the real stars. There had been a time where I had believed in all of that stuff. That was before I learned the truth of this world the hard way. Problems couldn't be solved by hoping, just as I couldn't set Papyrus on fire by glaring at him.

"Hey, you alright there, kid?" Undyne abruptly asked, her tone softening considerably. I immediately glanced at the monster kid before realizing that she was referring to me. She continued before I could say anything. "I didn't scare you too bad with that Gauntlet of Deadly Terror thing, did I?" I snorted.

"Oh, no way! I come face-to-face with my own death every single day!" I smiled, emphasizing my sarcasm while also hiding my moment of melancholy. She wouldn't understand what was bothering me anyway. No one in this underground bubble of optimism would.

Strangely, Undyne started laughing, sounding legitimately amused. "Hey, I think I'm actually starting to like you, punk!" she chortled. "At first I didn't like your negative stuck up attitude, but you actually seem to be pretty cool." She gave me a huge smile.

"Oh! Oh! Would you say he's beginning to 'grow' on you, Undyne?!" Papyrus had this huge grin on his face. Gradually it started to fade as he realized what he had just said and he burrowed his face into his hands. "I've been around my brother for too long," he mumbled through his gloves. He shot up, pointing at Undyne dramatically, looking almost angry. "Forget I said that!"

"Gladly," Undyne intoned. Then she turned to the monster kid who was nearly done with his nice cream. "Hey kid, where'd you meet this guy, anyway?" She gestured to me again. The lizard looked up, his eyes wide.

"Huh? Oh, um. Yo! You wouldn't believe it, but I actually met him right before I knocked on your door!" Undyne's eye narrowed. "Yeah! He was actually the one who really wanted to talk to you, and he dared me to knock in the first place!" I sunk lower into the ground, willing the stupid kid to stop talking. "Yo! To think none of this would have happened if it weren't for you!" He was giving me one of his silly smiles.

Undyne glanced at me sideways. "What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, more than a little bit suspicious. I cursed the monster kid in my head. I had already tried bringing it up once, but having Papyrus there meant that I wasn't going to get a straight answer from her.

"I was hoping to ask you in private," I mumbled, glaring at the ground. Undyne didn't respond right away. Instead, Papyrus broke the silence.

"Oh! Oohhhhh!" I raised an eyebrow at him. "I gotcha," he said, returning the look with a sly grin. "Wink wink!" He abruptly stood up, sweeping the monster kid up into his arms. "Whoopsie Doopsie! Don't mind us! I just remembered that we were going to go do something very important that needs to be attended to right away!" The monster kid let out a squeak of confusion and dismay before Papyrus loped off down the boardwalk and dove into some of the tall sea grass on the side of the trail.

Undyne stared after him incredulously before turning back to me. "Alright," she said. "Out with it. What did you want to talk about?"

This was not at all how I wanted this conversation to start. I found myself at a bit of a loss for words, unsure of how to bring it up. I grinned awkwardly, sinking under her intense gaze. "I actually tried to ask you earlier," I said quietly, feeling increasingly dumb. "I'm a big fan of Papyrus, and I was wondering why you don't let him into the Royal Guard."

She blinked, not expecting that. Then she sighed, glancing away towards the direction the skeleton had gone. "Look," she said, "Papyrus is one of my best friends. And don't tell him I told any of this to you." She gave me a brief sneer, but the expression softened and she stared down at the ground. "I don't think I could ever let him into the Royal Guard. It's not because he isn't strong enough or anything like that. He's actually pretty freaking tough! It's just that, well. He's too much of a goofball. He's way too innocent and nice. If he ever did go into battle, he'd probably get ripped into little smiling shreds."

Finally. I got the truth out of her. It was basically what she had said before, but now it was time for me to point out the holes in her logic. I would have to do so more gently this time, though. Insulting her outright would get me nowhere. "But Undyne, if you really wanted to keep him out of danger, wouldn't it be better if you let him into the Royal Guard?" She scowled.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" I gave her a level expression.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm telling you that it doesn't make sense. Papyrus is stupi -erm- brave enough that he'd head into battle whether he was a part of the Royal Guard or not. He'd actually go just to try and impress you." Undyne actually seemed to be listening to me this time. I went on.

"You told him that he needs to capture a human in order to join the Royal Guard. But by doing so, you've put him into even more danger since he's sure to be on the front lines any time a human really does come down here. You can't keep Papyrus out of danger by keeping him out of the Royal Guard. If anything, if he were in the guard, you could assign him to duties and locations that would keep him out of harms way. Golly, you could tell him to defend the kindergarten and you'd be sure that he'd defend it with his life."

I met Undyne's eye, growing more confident the more I spoke. "You're actually hurting him by keeping him out of the Royal Guard. People brush him off because they assume that he's weak and stupid. Part of that is they see that you won't let him in and they automatically assume that you don't think he's good enough. And though Papyrus seems confident in himself, I think you would find that he cares about your opinion more than he lets on." I trailed off, having said the bulk of what I wanted to say. Any more, and I would probably digress into name-calling. I looked away.

"You really do care for him, don't you?" I blinked. The truth was that I didn't. Did I? Papyrus was nothing but a naive idiot. No, I didn't care about him. Not the same way I cared about Chara. I didn't have to let Undyne know that, though. I met her gaze and she continued with a sigh.

"Dammit. You're probably right, as much as I hate to admit it. I wish I knew what I could do for Papyrus. I started teaching him how to cook, hoping that he'd find something else to put his passion into. If anything were to happen to him, I don't think I could live with myself." She scowled, much to my satisfaction. For some reason, I was filled with pride knowing that I had actually succeeded in my goal. I didn't really care if Undyne let Papyrus in or not, mostly I had just wanted to point out her stupidity.

She leaned back against the stone wall of the cave. "Alright. I'll consider it. Might be a bit tough, though. I did tell him that I'd only let him in if he captured a human, and I'm not going to back down on my word just because some snot-nosed kid told me to." I snorted. "Papyrus, you can come out now!" she called, her words echoing through the massive cavern.

The rustling came surprisingly close and Papyrus arose from his scrub of grass, eyes a-glitter. He had both hands pressed to his cheekbones which were reddened with magical blush. "I didn't know you cared!" he cried. I blinked, suddenly aware that he had been within earshot the whole time.

Undyne looked vaguely annoyed, but had a distinct smirk on her face. "Figures you couldn't leave well enough alone," she muttered. The skeleton leaped over the sea grass followed closely by the monster kid who also looked surprisingly giddy. Papyrus ran over to me and scooped me up into a giant hug. I let out a grunt of general discomfort, but was helpless to do much else other than squirm.

"Yo!" the monster kid said, "Here I thought you were a fan of Undyne's! Oh man was I wrong! You really thought that through, didn't you?" I lay limp, crushed against Papyrus's shoulder, feeling quite miserable.

"So what do you think, Papyrus?" Undyne asked with a hand on her hip. She was standing up straight again, her shoulders squared off as she faced down the skeleton. "The flower seems to think you're good enough to get into the Royal Guard. I'm apt to agree."

Papyrus let out a gasp, setting me back down on the ground and raising a hand to his sternum. "You mean...?" Undyne scowled back, letting her fangs show.

"Don't think that means I'll let you in easy! You've got to show me that you've got what it takes! Perhaps capturing a human is a bit far-fetched, but I want to see something equally great from you!"

The skeleton planted both hands prominently on his hips, arching his head back. "Nyeh heh heh! I would expect nothing less! After all, I am the Great Papyrus, the soon-to-be famous Royal Guardsman!"

I watched as Undyne's face slowly twisted into an evil sneer. "I know exactly what you can do to prove yourself," she said with an eerily dark tone. Even though the comment wasn't directed at me, I suddenly got this horrible feeling, and I just knew that I was going to get mixed into this somehow.

" _Haha! Good! For a second there, I thought you were thinking of leaving us!"_

" _Why would I ever do that?"_

" _I dunno. I can never tell what you're planning on doing next."_

"Alright, everyone!" Undyne shouted, standing atop the peak of her rock. There was quite the crowd gathered around, all in various suits of armor. Undyne herself had donned her heavy plate, making her look even more formidable. It seemed that the entire Royal Guard had gathered for this event, including King Asgore himself.

I glanced sideways at my father, a little bit surprised that he had agreed to this, especially on such short notice. He stood with his arms folded, looking quite satisfied. I scowled at him. Apparently he had nothing better to do with his time and had volunteered to not only attend the event Undyne had planned, but to participate in it.

Undyne called again and the crowd fell into a hushed silence. She leaned forward, a sly grin on her face. "So who here can tell me what it takes to get into the Royal Guard?"

"Popularity!" Papyrus called immediately, earning him a glare from his superior.

"Strength!"

"Courage!"

"Teamwork!" The last came from a female dog who was clutching quite closely to another dog, probably her husband.

"Thank you!" Undyne said, pointing to the canine who had spoken. "It's all well and good to be strong. But what it really takes to survive on a battlefield is relying on our friends! I'm talking tactics! Responsibility! Coordination! We can't be an army unless we work together!"

Several grunts of agreement went throughout the crowd and Asgore nodded to himself solemnly. Undyne gestured to Papyrus who joined her on the rock, taking me with him since I was hitching a ride on his shoulder. "As some of you know, I've been training Papyrus here for a while now. I believe he's strong enough to make it into the Royal Guard." Papyrus beamed, but Undyne bore her fangs. "However, not just anybody can make it in. We're training the best of the best here! This isn't just some kindergarten training course, this is a full on war we're talking about! So this exercise isn't about strength or numbers, it's about strategy!"

"I'm putting Papyrus here in charge of half of you. The rest of you are with me! There are two sides, defenders and attackers! Attackers! Your job is to kill the dummy!" She held up a stuffed training dummy with one arm for all the monsters to see. "Defenders, you're going to try to keep the dummy alive! Papyrus will be the leader of the defenders, and anyone with me will be the attackers!"

She eyed Papyrus seriously with her one remaining eye. "If the dummy dies, you're out of a job," she stated quietly. "So no messing around. This is the real deal!" Then her face abruptly split into one of her huge grins. "I'm counting on you to make it, so do me proud!" She then proceeded to count off everyone, dividing them into two groups. By some miracle, Papyrus ended up with Asgore on his team, though the rest of them seemed to be pretty useless. There were five people per team, not including myself.

The monster kid stood towards the back of the group, his enthusiasm undimmed by the fact that he wasn't allowed to participate. Undyne had been all for letting the kid in, but the moment Asgore had seen a small child on the roster, his face had gone grim. The king was way too much of a softie. He probably picked up some of that attitude from my mother, and I was slightly surprised that he didn't wrap the poor kid up in pillows for his safety.

What surprised me even more was that I was not only allowed to join, but I was being forced to do so against my better judgment and will. Undyne had insisted on me being a part of this fiasco because it was me who had petitioned Papyrus for this position, as if that qualified me for anything. I sat stoically on the skeleton's shoulder, grumbling to myself. I really should have never bothered trying to help the idiot accomplish his dreams.

"Ok, everyone clear on the rules?" Undyne asked when the teams had arranged themselves. "Remember, though fighting and magic is allowed, this is a sparring match! Everyone comes out of this in one piece, ya hear? You have to defend the dummy for half an hour! Now let's go!" With that, she leapt down from the rock, hair streaming behind her. She hit the ground at a dead run, followed closely by her four teammates.

Papyrus also jumped down from the rock, though in a significantly less dramatic fashion. He held the dummy in the crook of his harm and he led the way across the stone bridge and down the path towards where Undyne had gone.

"Nyeh heh heh!" he laughed as he loped ahead of the group. "All of you are truly in for quite the treat, for you are on my team! Team Papyrus! It is the only team to be on! Unless, of course, you are on Undyne's team. But mine is clearly the best because I'm on it!" He looked over his shoulder to give the rest of the monsters a huge grin. 01 and 02 saluted him, Doggo lit up a dog treat, and Asgore smiled back with a soft incline of his head.

With that, we passed into the next room which was pitch black. Only a few dim crystals lit up pieces of the walls marking the edges of the massive cavern, but otherwise, it was impossible to see much of anything. Papyrus reached out and touched a lantern set on a pole and light abruptly streamed from it, illuminating the path. As we walked, though, the lantern dimmed back into darkness. Up ahead, I could see another lantern light up and a few shadows passed by it, marking where Undyne's team was walking. It seemed that this black hell hole was our chosen battle ground.

It was impossible to tell exactly where we were in the room, but judging by the crystals, we were somewhere in the middle. There weren't any lanterns around to light the area, so as far as I could tell, we had just stopped in an arbitrary, unlit location. It was here that Papyrus firmly planted the dummy into the ground. "Stay," he ordered, pointing to it.

"What, what, WHAT?! You really think I'm dumb enough to leave?" it retorted angrily. I sighed. It would figure that we would end up with a dummy that was inhabited by a ghost. Papyrus abruptly lifted me off his shoulder and set me down on top of the dummy's head.

"What are you doing?" I asked irritably. He stood back and posed, looking proud and confident of himself as usual, though it was hard to make him out in the darkness.

"I am placing you in charge of guarding the dummy!" he declared. "Nyeh heh heh! There is no one else I would rather have watching the dummy directly than my trusted compadre." He grinned and leaned forward, looking serious. "I trust that you shall guard it with your life!"

He then pulled away and joined the rest of the troupe. What an idiot. He began ordering the team to patrol various paths around the area, though he did so awkwardly, letting his uncertainty show through. Papyrus was fairly strong, but he was not a leader, and he was definitely not used to giving orders. Except maybe to his garbage brother, but that didn't count. I did not miss the fact that he also placed Doggo in charge of watching over the dummy, possibly due to the fact that the poor dog was practically blind. It still irritated me, though. Having two people stay back with the dummy meant that my job was superfluous.

The lantern light faded to black and I watched as the lanterns marking the movements of the rest of the team got further away until it was hard to tell which ones led to friends or foes. Undyne's group had also spread out to various locations around the cavern until the edges of my vision were constantly flickering with lantern light.

I got bored very quickly. The whole place just felt creepy. Footsteps resounded throughout the cavern, but they were muffled and hollow. I could also hear the faint whisper of echo flowers, though that quickly became white noise that I instantly tuned out. I glanced at where Doggo stood watch, marked by the glowing embers of the dog treat in his mouth. I sighed and hopped down from the dummy, diving into the ground.

Yes, Papyrus had put me in charge of watching the dummy, but that didn't mean I had to follow orders. I wasn't a part of the Royal Guard, and I hadn't even wanted to participate in this stupid game anyway. Besides, it would be way more fun to mess with people.

I was drawn to the sound of a scuffle and some shouts of alarm. Sparks of glowing magic engaged and I caught sight of Asgore summoning his trident and batting a glowing ax aside. Combat erupted in a few other locations as stars met with swords. I couldn't see Papyrus's magic or Undyne's in the mix, and there was only one other lantern light that wasn't associated with an ongoing fight. The silhouette briefly outlined Papyrus's figure and I frowned. That meant that Undyne was sneaking around without the use of the lanterns. That could be bad.

I decided to start messing with people. I reached out and brushed against a lantern and it sprang up to life. Unfortunately, it was Papyrus who instantly called out, "Aha!" and I could picture him bee-lining towards my location thinking that I was Undyne. Whoops. I grinned and moved to a completely new location on the far side of where I had just been, then lit up a lantern there. I continued the pattern, rushing around to various arbitrary lanterns and hitting them at random.

A curse sounded close to me and I turned to see the flash of a spear appear in darkness. A volley of blue bones flared up and flashed through Undyne's retreating figure, and she was abruptly surrounded in a faint blue aura. Somehow, Papyrus had actually managed to catch Undyne.

"Gotcha!" he called in triumph. Undyne turned and summoned more spears, sending them straight at the skeleton. He dodged with a cry of dismay, but Undyne was still locked in the soul prison Papyrus had surrounded her with. That didn't stop her from turning and running the other direction, though. Apparently, though the blue magic inhibited her ability to turn to the left or the right, she was still able to move forward and backwards just fine.

She wasn't expecting a vine to suddenly wrap around her foot, though. With a yelp, she fell face-first into the marshy ground. I laughed hysterically, unable to contain my amusement. I then released her foot and dove back into the safety of the ground before she could spear me.

"What the heck?" she asked, confused by what had just happened. She didn't have long to contemplate the matter because Papyrus abruptly caught up. He stood over her and posed.

"Nyeh heh heh! Had a little spill, I see!"

He wasn't able to continue to gloat because suddenly a new voice cried out in alarm. It was the dummy. All eyes turned towards the sound and Doggo abruptly started barking and snarling. Whoops. I shot through the ground back to my post. Perhaps I shouldn't have left it after all. I got there in time to see a brawl break out between two of the dogs, sword clashing against spear. Doggo pushed the other dog back, away from the dummy.

Papyrus caught up and a wall of bones materialized in a circle around the dummy. Other monsters on the team started to come too, but Papyrus quickly shouted an order for them to return to their posts. Reluctantly, the team held their ground, forming a protective ring around the area. The bones vanished, apparently only a temporary summon. Too bad. That would have been a great way to keep the enemies back.

The whole place went to chaos. The battles were much closer now and the room had lost its sense of emptiness, filled by the sounds of war. Papyrus was forced to leave to help beat back more enemies. One of the smaller dogs shot past Doggo and rushed to the dummy, tongue lolling and sword held ready. I was apparently the only one there to stop it. I summoned a ring of pellets and threw them at the dog. It let out a yip and stopped to paw at his face where the bullets had struck. Suddenly a spear split the darkness heading straight towards me. I cried out and ducked back to safety.

Thankfully, Papyrus came back, leaping over where I had just stood. He summoned a volley of bones and sent them towards Undyne and the dog. "Fall back!" Undyne ordered. I looked around and observed the other battles, realizing that Undyne was pulling a tactical retreat, probably to lose the defenders and try a different angle. Lantern light went crazy as various units moved about.

The defenders took chase, following after the retreating monsters. I scowled. At that rate, they would quickly leave gaps for someone, probably Undyne, to slip by unnoticed. Papyrus himself called out a cheer and rushed in pursuit of the fading lights. "Idiots," I muttered. I sped forward to get ahead of Papyrus. I reached the dog that had attacked earlier, then lit up a lantern leading off away from the dog. Thankfully, Papyrus was far enough away that he could only see the lantern light, and he hesitated only a second before following the lit path that I had made. I grinned, leading him back towards the dummy so he could defend the thing.

Papyrus skidded to a stop when we did reach the dummy. Doggo was there, brandishing his glowing blue swords. "Where'd they go?" Papyrus asked, bewildered. Doggo looked up and cocked his head in confusion.

I surfaced before Doggo could say anything. "Sorry, Papyrus, that was me," I explained. "Look at the lanterns, they're leading everyone that way." I nodded my head towards where the lights were converging in the distance. "Which means we'll be hit from behind. Undyne apparently doesn't need the lanterns to get around here, so she's probably out there somewhere. I led you back to defend."

"Ah, I see, I see," Papyrus mumbled, bringing a gloved hand to his mouth. "Excellent work, my good flower! You have clearly proven your worthiness in battle! Nyeh heh heh! It is to you that I shall owe this victory!" I snorted. Only because Papyrus was a complete moron.

As I had predicted, fast footsteps sounded in the shadows, but what I wasn't expecting was the blood-red trident that materialized soon after. Apparently my father had also anticipated the sneak attack and had held to his post. He beat back Undyne who was forced to summon a spear to defend herself from the massive goat king. Papyrus whooped, then rushed off into the darkness to help.

I breathed out a sigh. I vaguely wondered if it wouldn't have been easier if everyone had stuck close to the dummy, but since it was Papyrus who was in charge of tactics, it made sense that he hadn't thought the battle through entirely. I turned to look at the lanterns behind me, just to observe the battle some more.

I stopped dead when I noticed that there was a silhouette leaned up against the dummy. "Foolish, foolish, foolish!" the dummy cried. "Can't you idiots do anything?!"

"Nope," the owner of the silhouette said. I instantly recognized the voice of Sans. I blinked before glaring at the shadowed skeleton.

"What the heck are you doing here?!" I snapped. "You aren't a part of the game!" Sans's face was suddenly lit up from underneath by a faint blue light coming from his cell phone that he held casually in one hand. His grin looked extra creepy in that light.

"Just thought I'd come over to join the fun," he remarked. "I can't miss my bro's graduation party. Who do you take me for?" Without looking at me, he continued. "The better question is, who are you and what are you doing here?"

Thankfully, just then Doggo jogged up to join us before glancing around hastily. "Big guy? Is that you?" he asked, obviously unable to see Sans.

"Nah," Sans replied. Doggo let out a low growl.

"Don't lie to me!" he snarled. "What took you so long?" I cocked my head. Wait, was Sans actually told to come and participate?

The sounds of battle had been getting closer and Undyne suddenly flew by us and landed on her back with a grunt. She rolled over and started to get up before she noticed Sans standing there. "About time you showed up!" she shouted at the skeleton as she clamored to her feet. "Don't just stand there! You're on our team! Your job is to kill that dummy you're leaning on!"

Sans blinked lethargically at her, his ever present grin appearing to mock her. "Huh," he said slowly. He glanced down at the dummy as if weighing in the decision on whether to destroy the thing or not. I didn't give him the chance to decide, summoning pellets and shooting them at him. In a flash, he had dodged and was standing a few feet back.

Undyne might have helped the skeleton, but she was immediately mauled by Asgore again, his trident pinning her to the ground. The king was apparently refraining from using his fire attacks, probably not wanting to cause too much damage. I grinned and turned back to Sans. Doggo looked confused, glancing between Undyne and the dummy. He probably wouldn't be much help. That was fine by me.

I was perfectly content with fighting Sans. As per the rules, he couldn't kill me this time. The same did not technically apply to me. With a shrill laugh, I bombarded Sans with bullets. Slowly but surely, I pushed him away from the dummy. The stupid bag of garbage had the nerve to look bored as he danced away from my attacks, but I decided to pay that no mind. As much as I hated to admit it, it was unlikely that I would be able to kill Sans here. But I could at least keep him busy. For some reason, having Sans join the battle filled me with the determination I needed to see this battle through and see that my team won.

As I pushed Sans back, I started to lose visual on him. He had pocketed his cell phone again, so there wasn't any more light illuminating his face. The only thing I could see of him were the tiny pinpricks of his eyes, but those were nearly impossible to make out. I blindly fired, only occasionally catching sight of his silhouette to make sure that I was still aiming in the proper direction.

"Like, incoming!" I heard 01's voice somewhere behind me, close to where the dummy was. A canine yip shattered the air and I glanced behind me to see what was going on. Apparently one of the other dogs, one of the ones wielding an ax, had gotten past 01 and was rushing towards the dummy. In a flash, Papyrus was there to defend, summoning another wall of bones. When I looked back, Sans was completely gone from my view. It could have been the darkness, but somehow I just knew that he had gotten away. I grimaced, feeling frustrated.

I decided to return to the dummy and help out over there. It seemed a little odd to put Sans on the opposite side of Papyrus since I would think that Sans would potentially sabotage his own team to help out his brother. However, when I got back to the group, I immediately spotted the stumpy skeleton standing in full lantern light dangerously close to the dummy. I scowled. How in the heck had he gotten past me?

He summoned a bone and spun it in the air. "Hey Doggo," he called. Doggo's head whipped around, distracted from his current battle. Sans waved the bone in front of the dog's eyes so he could see it clearly. "Fetch." Sans chucked the bone out into the darkness and Doggo's canine nature kicked in and he hurriedly rushed after it. I scowled. What a cheap move. I whipped out a vine and surprisingly caught hold of Sans's ankle, but when I yanked on it, the skeleton had somehow slipped free and he casually stepped aside as though nothing had happened.

"Sans!" Papyrus called, noticing his brother for the first time.

"'Wassup, bro?" Sans did not look like he was standing in the middle of a battle field with his hands in his pocket and his entire figure relaxed.

Papyrus broke away from his battle and marched over to his smaller counterpart with hands on his hips. "You know what's up, brother! I simply can not believe that you would show up more than halfway through my initiatory ceremony!"

"Hm. You're right. I should have shown up even later. I'm way too early." The taller skeleton stomped his foot in anger. I might have paid more attention to the two brothers interacting, but just then, Undyne got free of Asgore's defense and made a run for the dummy, murder in her eyes.

It was a simple matter to trip her with another vine, but she was expecting that this time and recovered surprisingly fast. I surfaced and launched bullets at her, vine still wrapped tightly around her foot to prevent her from properly dodging. She responded by summoning a spear and batting them aside, almost taking a face full of magic.

A volley of bones whipped by me and I glanced back to see the two skeletons locked in combat, though mostly it was Papyrus who was attacking while Sans dodged. The spot immediately around the dummy was in chaos as attackers fought against defenders. They were getting way too close for my comfort. In a fit of inspiration, a new idea popped into my head and I cleared my throat, adjusting my voice.

"Fall back!" I shouted, doing my best impression of Undyne's voice. It actually sounded pretty good, and amidst the clamor, it was almost impossible to distinguish from the original. All the attackers looked up in surprise before backing out of their battles, getting ready to retreat and circle back like they had before.

The real Undyne shook her head in bewilderment before shouting her own command. "Belay that order! Belay it I say! That wasn't me!" She glared around her before locating me, then she summoned a spear and readied it to throw. I grinned at her cheerily.

"All forces to me!" I called again, still using Undyne's voice. I was so glad I had taken the time to learn how to do voice impressions. All the members of her team looked baffled and kept glancing between their battles and Undyne. All the members except for Sans. He seemed completely unconcerned with the whole thing and continued to lead his brother on as though no orders had been issued forth.

Undyne looked pissed. "Ngaaaaah! You little impersonator! Everyone keep pushing forward! Stay on the target!" She leapt straight for me along with a bunch of her spears. I chuckled and dove underground before she could reach me. My father then intercepted her, beating her back with his trident. I turned back to the dummy just in time to see one of the dogs bounding towards it, sword ready to swing. In a moment of dread, I knew that I was too far away to do anything about it.

"Time, time, TIME!" the dummy shouted. The cavern abruptly fell into near silence as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look towards the dummy. The little Pomeranian looked disappointed as he lowered his sword.

Undyne was the one who broke the silence, striding towards Papyrus. "You heard the man, time's up! Well done!" She reached the skeleton and offered him her hand which he shook solidly, closing the match. "Looks like we have ourselves a new member of the Royal Guard."

" _Are you ready? Let's go home."_

"Wowie!" Papyrus exclaimed, eye sockets aglow. "I feel so honored!" We had retreated to Papyrus's house in Snowdin to celebrate. After being in the near darkness of Waterfall for so long, the bright snow was almost blinding. Most of the other Royal Guards had left already, but a few stayed to offer Papyrus congratulations and eat the free food being offered on the house by Grillby, apparently a special request from Sans. I would have rather hidden in a hole, but Papyrus had insisted that I come with, allotting his victory to my efforts.

I probably should have felt happy or excited. After all, I had accomplished precisely what I had set out to do. It had even proven to be somewhat fun for a while. Yet for whatever reason, I felt dissatisfied. I scowled at the floor while everyone came to pat the skeleton on the back. Perhaps if I actually cared about Papyrus, I might have been happy, or at the very least pleased with myself. Instead I just felt... Well... There wasn't any good way to explain the emotions that ran through me.

"You better feel honored, Papyrus! After all, you are officially a member of the Royal Guard!" Undyne slapped her skeleton friend on the shoulder and he gave her a huge grin in return. "Never thought I'd say this, ya big pile of bones, but I'm proud of you." The skeleton blushed, obviously pleased to receive such praise.

Monsters milled about the tiny space, conversing and eating food. I eyed Asgore warily, feeling a little bit weird seeing my father and knowing that he had no idea who I was. I couldn't make out his conversation, but I did hear his great, booming laugh as he chuckled at something amusing the shorter skeleton had said to him.

Sans was chatting with the guests more than Papyrus was, probably since he was apparently good friends with all of them. I still couldn't figure out that guy. How could such a sleazy jerk be so popular? I turned to glare at the wall, suddenly miffed. The nice thing was that Papyrus seemed content to stay in the kitchen while Sans was in the living room, which gave me an excuse to hang around Papyrus and avoid the trash bag.

"Hey, you, what are you looking so down for? You got your wish." Undyne pinched one of my petals hard enough to hurt. I glanced up at her. How could I ever explain? I wasn't even sure what the reason was. I tried to smile at her to cover my emotions, but my heart wasn't in it.

"It's nothing that you should care about," I said with a tinge of my anger seeping through. Instantly, Papyrus was kneeling by my side. His expression flashed from one of concern to one of contemplation. I stared at him dully, not really fully focused on him.

"I know what the problem is," he declared, pointing to the ceiling dramatically. "You wish that you could be a member of the Royal Guard as well!" I gave him my best dead-pan expression before turning away with a sigh. "No? Hm. Well then. Perhaps you need some spaghetti. I know that always cheers me up! Nyeh heh heh!"

I gave the skeleton a smile, slightly stronger than the one I had given Undyne. "No thanks, Papyrus. I'm fine. Really." I found that I hated being catered to. I couldn't understand the logic to it, being kind to someone because they were feeling down. Everyone feels down sometimes. What was the point of worrying over another person's sorrows? It was stupid. "I think I'm going to go now. Congratulations, Papyrus!" I grinned at him before leaving the crowded house. I didn't miss the look of concern on Papyrus's face as I left. What an idiot.

There wasn't anywhere in particular for me to go. I just wanted to be away from people. Thankfully, Grillby's was deserted since most of the regulars there were in the place I had just left. I located my favorite corner and slumped against the wall, feeling emotionally exhausted. It had been a good day, so I knew that there was absolutely no reason for me to be feeling this way, but here I was.

I didn't want to reset. Not after coming so far. There was no reason for me to go back to the beginning. Even if I did, I would be left with the same question in mind: now what? I had to keep going, keep pushing forward. That was what it meant to be determined. And since determination was literally the only thing keeping me alive, I had to find something to do with myself. Anything.

"Heya." I hadn't heard Sans walk in, but I wasn't surprised to hear his voice next to me. I was getting kind of used to the guy just randomly showing up exactly when I wanted him there the least. It showed just how depressed I was that I didn't even look up to glare at him. He settled down beside me and I was faintly reminded of when I had first met him in this very location. Sans sighed as though contemplating what to say.

"Go away," I mumbled before he could start.

"Hey now, that's no way to be," he said without a single hint in his voice that he had taken any offense. "I wanted to talk to ya for a sec."

"Clearly," I grumbled.

"Geez, kid. Who stuck a stick up your butt?" I refused to look at him and contented myself with glaring at the wall. After a moment of silence, he sighed again. "Listen. All I wanted to say is thank you. I haven't seen Papyrus so happy in a long time. You did a good thing today, whether you like it or not." After another awkward pause, I heard him get to his feet. He stood there for a moment, waiting for a response. I didn't give him one. Finally, he left without saying another word.

What did it mean to be good? I helped one monster fulfill his dreams. Wouldn't it have been better if I had shattered the barrier and freed all monsters? And yet for some reason, that was considered bad because it would take the life of a human. Similarly, it was a bad thing to kill Mettaton even though his influence was poisoning the Underground. The concept of good and bad used to be so black and white to me, but now the line was blurred. They seemed to be almost arbitrary assignments made by those who were in power.

I wished that I could be in power. Then I could set everything right. I wouldn't have to deal with all these stupid idiots and their moronic views of morals and laws. Then everyone would see the true meaning of this world. It's kill or be killed. If we don't fight, we will be slaughtered. That was all there was to it. There wasn't any of this 'looking after each other' nonsense.

In a moment of pointless anger, I blasted one of the bar stools in the room with a volley of energy pellets, knocking it to the ground. It was a good thing the room was empty. I stood, glaring at the fallen stool, tears streaming from my eyes. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel this way? This was just so stupid! It wasn't fair!

Again. It happened again. It seemed like any time I tried to do the right thing, nothing ever worked out. Yes, I had made Papyrus a member of the Royal Guard. So what? It wasn't like the monsters would ever actually go to war against humanity. Asgore was too stupid and soft-hearted for that. And even if they did, they would all die anyway. I knew the power of humans. I had seen it first-hand. These worthless monsters didn't stand a chance.

No matter what I did, it would all end in disaster anyway. What was the point of going through all these stupid resets? They never amounted to anything. Everything was all just going to be reset anyway, so why bother doing anything at all?

Something about these dark thoughts combined with being in close proximity with Sans reminded me of something the skeleton had said while he had mercilessly killed me time and time again. "Why try? If it's all going to be reset, then what's the point?" I closed my eyes and shuddered. "But you killed my brother just now. What if one of these times, he doesn't come back?"

Chara was dead. We were all still trapped underground. I was forever stuck in a timeline where everything had gone wrong and there was no going back to fix any of it. Sans's worst nightmare was my reality. There was no going home for me because my home was long gone. For that brief moment, I could almost understand what the skeleton had been thinking. That sense of helplessness. That sense of inevitable loss. Even someone as powerful as Sans couldn't go back and change the past. Even someone as determined as me could not bring Chara back from the dead.

I felt the first symptoms of my determination draining to nothing and my body splitting apart. For whatever reason, I couldn't bring myself to care. I would wind up back in the throne room again, a fresh canvas to start painting. After all, what had I really accomplished today? In the grand scheme of things, not a lot. I gazed up at the ceiling thinking of Chara. I missed her. I missed my best friend. Chara would have known what to do. She was always so good at coming up with things to do. Part of me was still determined, determined to fix the past mistakes I had once made.

In a wave of rebellion, I sat up straight and my particles fused together again. I wasn't going to reset. Not yet. Not this time. I was going to keep going. By golly, I would make things right, slowly but surely, by any means that I could. I had helped one monster, yes, and I was determined to help the rest. Who cared if I didn't love any of them? Who cared if I was a soulless husk of a flower? Who cared if there wasn't any point in trying anymore? Chara wouldn't have given up, and she wouldn't want me to give up either. For her sake, I kept going.


	11. The Other Half: Breaking Barriers

**Quick Author Note: (Warning, shameless plug.) Hey, if you like fanart, I painted a pretty picture of Undyne vs Asgore, the fight from the third chapter! Check it out! :D** **shells124. deviantart art/Undyne-vs-Asgore-614130592 (spaces added to prevent site from eating link.)**

* * *

" _Why did you choose flowers?"_

" _Hm? What do you mean, Asriel?"_

" _You told Mom and Dad that your final request was to see the golden flowers from your village."_

" _Oh. I guess I was thinking about what I missed from the surface world. If I had to pick anything, it would be that."_

"He's back!" Papyrus called when I popped up through his kitchen floor. I glanced around, noting that enough time had passed that all of the party goers had left. I grinned at Papyrus. Really, the only reason I had returned was because I honestly had no idea where else to go. I had done some thinking, though, and I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do next. I had rather hoped that Undyne would still be here, but she had apparently left already.

"Yeah, sorry about leaving like that, Papyrus. I wasn't feeling that great. I'm doing better now, though." I figured I should offer the skeleton at least some sort of explanation. I didn't really need to explain myself, but I still needed to hold up the pretense of actually liking the moron if I wanted to avoid suspicion.

Papyrus grinned, looking overjoyed. "Well, I am most pleased that you are feeling better now." He turned back to his work of picking up dishes and other trash left around the house by party-goers and Sans. The older skeleton wandered down the stairs and flopped on the couch, reclining in such a way that he covered most of the garbage there, preventing his younger brother from properly cleaning it. Papyrus placed his hands on his hips and glared at Sans before picking a different spot to clean.

Sans caught my eye and I quickly looked away, biting back my frustration. As much as I hated that guy, I needed to get on his good side, too. There really wasn't any good reason for me to hate him other than a general dislike of his personality. Undyne had made a good point when I had killed Mettaton. Just because I didn't like someone didn't give me grounds to kill them. Unfortunately.

"Do you need any help with anything, Papyrus?" I asked reluctantly. He laughed and shook his head, hefting a rising pile of garbage.

"Oh, no, I could not do that to my esteemed guest! Besides, I have all the help I need with trashy here!" I looked up in shock. I knew Papyrus had a low opinion of his brother, but I hadn't pinned him for someone who would openly call Sans names like that. Papyrus kicked the trash can at the entrance to the kitchen lightly to point out what he was referring to before dumping the contents of his arms into it. His smile didn't dim in the least. "I named my garbage can!" I snickered. Typical Papyrus.

I gave Sans a sideways glance again, but the stubby skeleton appeared to be falling asleep. Papyrus finished cleaning the rest of the room and marched over to the couch and loomed over his brother, looking miffed. "Honestly!" he said in irritation. "Couldn't you nap anywhere else?!"

Sans opened one eye lazily. "Nope." His eye closed again.

Papyrus immediately hoisted his brother over his shoulder. Sans wasn't the least bit perturbed by this and continued to nap with that stupid grin on his face, even as Papyrus carted him up the stairs and into his room. I sighed and shook my head. This was a waste of time, but I couldn't just ditch Papyrus again. Yet another reason why I hated caring for people. There were always certain expectations required of you in order to be considered a friend.

When the taller skeleton returned, he set about cleaning the couch, swiftly ridding it of crumbs and used napkins. Afterwards, he turned to me, folding his arms in front of him. "Sorry about that," he said apologetically. I shrugged, not really looking at him. "Now what can I do for you, my flowery friend?" He paused for only a brief second, not really giving me enough time to respond. "Oh! You were feeling down! No doubt you have come to me to share your deepest darkest thoughts! Worry not, flower! I, the master of friendship Papyrus, am the perfect person to express your feelings to!"

I snorted to myself. Sure. Why not? What could it hurt? I let out a long sigh. "It's a long story," I said softly. Papyrus responded by sitting down on the couch and leaning forward intently, a big grin plastered to his face. I chuckled to myself before starting in.

"Once upon a time, the king and queen had a son named Asriel. When a human first fell into the underground, it was Asriel who found her. The two of them became best friends and the king and queen adopted the human child as their own." It felt weird referring to myself in the third person, but I needed to let it all out. Papyrus wouldn't be able to help me at all, but for some reason I wanted to go through with this.

"One day, Asriel and the human, Chara, came up with a plan together. They had found a way to break the barrier and free all of monster kind. While it takes seven human souls to break the barrier, you only need one to cross it. Chara was willing to give up her life so that way Asriel could cross the barrier and take six more human souls back to the Underground and break the barrier forever." Papyrus's eyes had knotted up in concern and he leaned heavily on both hands, hiding the lower half of his face.

"Unfortunately, the plan didn't work. When Asriel reached the surface, he was too much of a coward and couldn't bring himself to take the human souls. Instead, the humans attacked him, and he stumbled home and died." I closed my eyes, feeling a tear slide down my face. "My name is Asriel Dreemurr. After I died, the Royal Scientist accidentally resurrected me as a flower using something called determination." I turned away and took a deep breath. "So there you have it. That's my dark past in a nutshell."

There was a long period of silence. I couldn't bring myself to look at Papyrus to see what his reaction was. No doubt he was having troubles processing everything. After a while, the skeleton finally piped up. "Wowie, that is quite the story you've got there! I had no idea I was in the presence of royalty!"

I continued to stare at the ground. I wasn't sure what I had hoped to accomplish by telling Papyrus. Part of me wanted his help. After my recent brush with death, I had realigned my original goal back in my head. I forced myself to look Papyrus in the eye.

"I'm going to fix my mistakes. I want to break the barrier and free monsters once and for all," I stated, letting all of my conviction layer my voice. Papyrus grinned back, sitting up straight.

"I see, I see!" he said. "A worthy goal indeed! Nyeh heh heh! No wonder you were so good with tactics! No doubt you are a born leader like your father!" I tried very hard to not snort at that comment. "Well, you have come to the right person! I, the Great Papyrus, newest member of the Royal Guard, shall assist you!" I gave the skeleton a sly smile.

He then stood up and started up the stairs. "Sans!" he called. "Sans, you have got to hear this! You won't believe what this flower just told me!" My heart sank.

"I heard it," Sans said from above me. I bit my lip and turned my gaze to look at him, dread filling me to the core. Sans was leaning against the railing with his eyes closed, still looking half asleep. He opened one eye and met my gaze. "It certainly explains a lot."

What was that supposed to mean? I gave him a sour expression and looked away. Reluctantly, I sighed, swallowing my hatred and pride. "So what do you say? Will you help me?" I gave him my best hopeful smile. That penetrating stare of his was incredibly nerve wracking.

After a painfully long moment of silence, Sans leaned back and stretched. "Who me? Sorry, buddy, I'm not the most helpful person around. Go ask Undyne or something. I'm not cut out for that kinda stuff." I scowled at him.

"Don't lie to me! You're one of the most powerful monsters in the Underground! You have the bad habit of showing up exactly when I don't need you, and the one time I actually ask you for help, you're going to weasel out of it?! I don't think so!" Sans blinked, taken aback by my outburst.

Thankfully, it was Papyrus who spoke next. "Nyeh heh heh! Asriel there has a point, dearest brother! Why, you are almost as great as me when you aren't being such a lazy bones! It would do you some good to work towards a great cause such as this!"

The expression on Sans's face was priceless. It was the first time I had ever seen him drop his nonchalant attitude and he actually visibly sank under the gaze of his younger brother. "Alright, alright," he muttered, holding up both hands. "Just don't expect too much from me. Yeesh."

Papyrus nodded firmly to himself. "Well that's settled then!" He then turned back to me, descending the stairs. "First things, first, we should tell the king about this immediately! I am positive he would be more than happy to show you to the barrier!" I frowned and glanced away.

"Been there, done that. My father won't listen to me." Papyrus looked confused and Sans leaned against the railing again. I grumbled in frustration, annoyed that I had to explain all of this stuff. I really shouldn't have told the skeletons anything. "The king is a soft-hearted sissy. He doesn't want to go through with his plan of breaking the barrier and killing all humans. And any time I try to bring it up, he refuses to let me do it, too, for some stupid reason. I have been completely, utterly unsuccessful getting him to do anything for me!"

My thought process was cut short by the sound of a trombone bewailing my efforts. I glared up at Sans as he lowered the trombone with a grin. "Sans!" Papyrus shouted, "Stop plaguing his story with incidental music! This is serious!" The older skeleton merely chuckled, not sorry in the least.

Papyrus turned back to me. "But surely if you told him who you were..." I shook my head irritably, cutting off his thought process.

"I tried that, too. All that did was make him change his mind about the war on humans completely and he disbanded the Royal Guard, refusing to do anything."

"Oh no! Not the Royal Guard!" Papyrus cried, slapping both hands to his face. Then he stopped, noting something odd with my story. "Wait. But I'm in the Royal Guard. Asgore himself was there earlier today. Does this mean that everything I am is a lie?!" I raised an eyebrow at him, then glanced upwards at Sans. Sans only stared back with that same frozen calm.

I gave an exasperated grunt and looked back at Papyrus. "I can go back in time," I snapped. "I've been doing this for a long time now. Believe me, I've tried everything I can think of. Nothing ever works!" Papyrus looked down scratching his jaw bone in contemplation.

"So what makes you think we're gonna do much better?" Sans asked seriously. I closed my eyes, trying to get a handle on my anger.

"I don't," I stated bluntly. "I'm not even sure why I bothered telling you any of this." I turned away, feeling disappointed again.

"Asriel," Papyrus spoke softly, catching my attention with how uncharacteristically quiet it was. "I believe you can do it." Tears stung my eyes. I couldn't look at him anymore. Then his voice elevated back to normal levels and he returned to his usual ways. "After all, you've got me and Sans with you this time! Nyeh heh heh! We shall be unstoppable! We'll get that barrier down in no time!"

Sans gave a short laugh, glancing at his brother. "True. Paps is the coolest guy around. You don't even need me." He turned as if to retreat to his room.

"Sans! Get back here! You are not going to slack off this time!" Papyrus stomped his foot in irritation and the shorter skeleton chuckled and changed his direction to join us downstairs. I would not have minded excluding Sans, but whatever. He might just prove to be useful.

"So what's first then?" Sans asked as he reached the bottom step.

I looked between him and Papyrus and grinned. "We should tell Undyne. The last time I did that, she beat up Asgore." The brothers exchanged glances, the taller one shrugging.

"Yup. That sounds like Undyne," Sans said with a knowing nod.

"Oh! Oh! Did she pick him up and throw him out of the castle? I love it when she does that!"

I frowned, remembering how the battle had ended with Asgore slinking away and me being no closer to those souls or to freedom. I had reset immediately afterwards. "Not exactly," I muttered. "On second thought, kicking Asgore's butt hasn't exactly been effective either. We need to get him to show us where those souls are hidden somehow."

"Have you asked Dr. Alphys?" Sans asked casually. Papyrus seemed confused by Sans's comment, but Sans didn't appear to notice.

I gave him a sideways smirk. "The braindead doctor? Believe me, she's completely useless."

Sans gave me a level look, his eyes narrowed slightly. "I wouldn't say that. After all, didn't she bring you back from the dead?" I snorted.

"Yeah, on accident."

Sans shrugged. "Hey, it's worth a try."

Papyrus shot his arm in the air, clenching it into a dramatic fist. "Yeah! The Great Dr. Alphys is a brilliant mastermind! I am sure she will be able to assist us!"

I scowled. "Fine, but I'm telling you, she's useless. She's probably hiding in her lab watching cartoons or something. Either that or she's in the true lab downstairs with her freak of nature melted monster things she made."

The skeletons exchanged glances again, obviously confused by that last bit. Whatever. They would see soon enough. "To Hotland then!" Papyrus yelled. He scooped me up into his arms, heading for the door. He turned to look at Sans before leaving. "You coming?" he asked.

Sans gave us a sly grin. "I'll meet you guys there. I know a shortcut." I gave the skeleton an incredulous look, but the saying seemed to satisfy Papyrus and he headed out the door and started our journey towards Alphys's lab.

" _Haha! Sometimes you can be so weird! This place is filled with beautiful things that I've never seen before! I mean, look up at the sky!"_

" _Oh. You mean the stars? Yeah, I guess. I dunno. You can't touch them. I guess I've always liked things that I can hold. They feel more real to me."_

Sure enough, Sans met us at the door of Alphys's lab. Thankfully, Papyrus had slowed down and hadn't forced me to endure another jolting ride all the way to Hotland. He had still moved rather swiftly, though, and having Sans beat us there annoyed me. The jerk was waiting for us, back pressed up against the door with his eyes closed. Papyrus, however, didn't seem the least bit surprised that Sans had gotten here before us. I scowled and grumbled to myself in my head, but bit my tongue and didn't vocalize my irritation.

Papyrus seemed to be getting nervous as we approached. I glanced up at him curiously. The skeleton tended to baffle me sometimes with his odd behaviors. Some things just went right through his empty head and it didn't bother him one bit, but he was incredibly picky about other things. Like how he was content to make a club house out of a nasty cardboard box and yet insisted that his actual house was spotless and neatly organized.

Sans opened one eye, and watched as we approached. "Hey, bro, 'sup?" he asked with only the faintest tone of concern in his voice.

"Wowie," Papyrus said uneasily, "I've never actually met the Royal Scientist before. In person I mean. And, well, I've heard so much about her from Undyne..." He trailed off. I stared at him, baffled by his rare moment of uncertainty. "I'll have to be sure to make a good impression!" he finished boldly, shaking off his anxiety.

Sans pushed away from the door, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No worries, bro. She ain't home." Papyrus instantly deflated.

"Oh," he mumbled. "We shall have to take our endeavors elsewhere then!" I scowled and was about to say something, but Sans beat me to it.

"I never said that," he stated, looking up at the two of us with that creepy grin of his. He elbowed a panel behind him and the door slid open with ease. I wrinkled my nose. I could have sworn Alphys kept that thing locked from the inside. Apparently, Sans did not have the same concerns about breaking and entering as Undyne had. He turned and walked through the open door, whistling as he went.

Papyrus wasn't nearly as unconcerned as his brother was. "Sans!" he cried, following after the shorter skeleton and waving his arms in frustration. "It is impolite to walk into someone's house while they are gone! You should learn a privacy!"

Sans continued forward, offering the briefest of smirks behind him as he poked at some of the notes scattered on the top of Alphys's desk. I sighed in frustration and decided to offer my two cents. "We won't find anything up here. She keeps all of the stuff on souls in the true lab down below. That's probably where she is anyway." The shorter skeleton looked up from the papers and gave me a calculated look. Papyrus scratched his head, not really sure what to make of the situation. "The elevator's behind that door," I stated, gesturing in the vague direction of her not-so-cleverly-hidden secret entrance.

Papyrus sluggishly inched towards the door, obviously uncomfortable with the situation but unable to resist his curiosity. It was still too slow for me and my patience wore thin. I found that working with Sans was extremely unsettling, and it was making my temper harder to handle. I just wanted to get in there, prove how useless the doctor was, then get out.

I hopped down from Papyrus's shoulder and immediately dove into the ground and moved to the door. I wasted no time in hitting the button with a vine so it slid open to reveal the elevator behind it. With a sly smirk, I turned back to the skeleton brothers. Papyrus took it as a cue and leapt towards the elevator, suddenly beaming. "Nyeh heh heh! It's like an adventure! We, the daring detectives, moving into the unknown in search of clues!" I rolled my eyes as Papyrus picked me up again and stepped through the doorway, followed by Sans.

The shorter skeleton immediately slumped backwards against one of the walls as we made our descent, appearing to be falling asleep. I scowled at him, wishing I hadn't brought him along. He was nothing but useless baggage as far as I could tell, unless he wanted to kill me of course. Jerk.

Once the elevator reached the bottom floor, Papyrus strolled out into the dark hallway beyond. Apparently, the doctor hadn't bothered keeping the lights on this time. I faintly wondered if she really was down here, but I couldn't think of anywhere else she would be. Both of the skeleton brothers were blissfully silent as we walked through the darkness.

Sans stepped over to one of the computer consoles set in the walls and poked at a key so the monitor flashed to life. He clicked a few buttons, bringing up some text that he quickly scanned through. Papyrus wandered over, but was glancing around the room rather than looking at the screen. I took the opportunity to look over the shorter skeleton's shoulder. It appeared to be notes of some sort, though Sans scrolled to the next entry before I had time to properly read it. From what I could gather, though, they seemed to be describing Alphys's experiments with determination.

Papyrus broke the silence, probably because it was starting to bother him. "Pretty spooky down here, no? Seems like a strange place for Dr. Alphys to spend her time. Though it's perfect for you, brother! You always seem to like these kinds of things!" Sans let out the smallest of grunts to acknowledge his brother had spoken, but was preoccupied in reading through Alphys's notes.

I would have liked to read more myself, but Papyrus walked on ahead, taking me with him. "Now if I were a light switch, where would I hide?" the skeleton muttered to himself. He scanned the wall and had reached the far end of the hallway before calling out an "Aha!" and flicking on the lights. I blinked against the blaring florescents and waited for my eyes to adjust.

When the spots receded from my vision, I could make out one of the amalgamate things standing between us and Sans. I frowned, wondering where it had come from. "Um..." I mumbled, calling Papyrus's attention to it.

Sans looked up from his monitor, noticing the thing first. "Huh." he said, looking it up and down.

Papyrus turned to see what I was looking at, then stopped, staring in shock at the thing. "Wowie!" he cried. The amalgamate appeared to be made of multiple monsters ranging from a slime to a seahorse all meshed together into one misshapen mass. For some strange reason, the thing gave off the distinct smell of lemons, and I guessed that the slime must have been a lemon jello slime before the stupid doctor got ahold of it.

"Welcome to my special hell," it said in a mostly female multi-voiced growl. Thankfully, it was facing Sans and lunged for him. I grinned, pleased at my fortune. Sans, however, immediately whipped out a hotdog from his jacket and held it in front of him. My smile faded as the amalgamate skidded to a stop, secreting some sort of liquid from its orifice. Why in the world did Sans have a hotdog stuffed in his coat pocket?

"Here, you're hungry, right?" Sans said calmly as though the thing hadn't just tried to attack him. The amalgamate wobbled in a fleshy sickly way before grasping the hotdog and collapsing into a sludge pile that oozed away across the floor. Sans chuckled before joining us down the hallway. I only stared at him, completely baffled.

"Thank you," the melted monster mass said as it left. Those things were definitely unnerving. The fact that Sans hadn't even flinched and had been totally prepared for the thing was even more concerning. I really did not like that guy.

"Brilliant!" Papyrus said enthusiastically beside me. "I am quite ravenous myself! You wouldn't happen to have brought enough to share with the rest of the class, now would you?"

Sans pulled out a second hotdog. "Sorry, bro. Last one." He then proceeded to pop the entire thing into his own mouth and eat it. I glowered. Papyrus looked equally irritated, but shook his head and resumed the journey to the next room.

The whole place felt especially creepy with all the lights off. I had thought it had been bad when I had taken Undyne down here before. My nerves were already on edge and my patience quickly wore thin. "Ugh. Where is that stupid doctor?" I asked in irritation. Sans glanced up at me but said nothing. Papyrus, however, stopped and rubbed his chin in contemplation.

"Hm. A mystery indeed! Nyeh heh heh! But thankfully, you have me and Sans along! You needn't worry! I, the great puzzle master, Papyrus, shall solve this conundrum!"

"We could split up," Sans suggested with a shrug.

"An excellent idea!" Papyrus declared. I grunted in affirmation. I didn't really want to stick with these morons anyway.

"Alright, sounds like a plan," I stated, hopping off of Papyrus's shoulder. I would be more than happy to get away from Sans. Papyrus nodded firmly before taking off down one direction of the corridor, laughing as he went. Sans watched him go, gave me a brief look, then turned and walked back the way we had come. I decided not to question it. If he wanted to chicken out, I'd be perfectly happy with that. I dove under the tiled floor and began exploring the place.

Once I was underground, I could see that all of the lights were off in all of the rooms. I was beginning to seriously have my doubts as to whether the doctor really was down here or not. I passed a few more of the melted monster things, but none of them could reach me while I was underneath the ground. All of them just looked sad, shuffling around as though they weren't really sure what to do with their lives anymore. I couldn't say I blamed them. If I were in such a miserable state, I wouldn't know what to do either.

I didn't see any lights, but I was drawn to a room that was slightly larger than most of the others. When I got there, it turned out to be the place Undyne and I had run into Alphys before, a huge chamber filled with what looked like hospital beds. The place was deserted again, which further confirmed my thought that the doctor wasn't around. That just meant that this whole thing was one giant waste of time. I really wanted to find something useful down here if only to justify spending such a large chunk of time running around this creepy place.

I wandered into the next room. The place was filled with mirrors, so there wasn't a lot that was useful, but my eye was quickly drawn to the sight of color. It was hard to make out anything in the darkness, but I was just barely able to make out the yellow flowers set on the counter. I located a light switch and turned it on, bathing the room in harsh artificial light.

Sure enough, the counter was covered in vases filled with golden flowers, the same kind as me. I frowned. Out of curiosity, I made my way to the top of the counter so I could see them better. None of them came as high as I did, but those golden petals were definitely the same as the ones that ringed my face. My gaze flicked to the mirror and I froze when I spotted my reflection.

I had never clearly gotten a look at myself in this body before. I had sort of pictured that I looked exactly like the flowers in the vases, but I didn't. Not only was I much larger, but my face... I approached the floor-length mirror.

White. Amorphous. Melted. I had more form than the shambling masses in the rest of the lab, but there was no denying that my face looked like it was made of putty slapped together to make an expression. I was an amalgamate, just like the hideous things outside.

I found myself starting to cry. I pictured how I used to look, imagining a smiling muzzle staring back at me. To my surprise, the reflection complied. I jumped back, startled. Had I really seen that?

Curiosity nagged at me. I imagined my face, the amorphous blob, fusing together into the image of my old goat self. In a second, it took shape. I blinked. Huh. I hadn't known I could do that. I grinned. That really would have been useful to know a long time ago. I proceeded to make other faces in the mirror. That was apparently the benefit to having an elastic face, I could make whatever expression I wanted. I changed to look like Asgore, then Toriel, the faces so well ingrained in my mind that they were the easiest to conjure up.

I spent probably too much time making faces in the mirror. I grinned larger than my little cheeks should have been able to bear. I sneered, I bore fangs I didn't have moments before, I stuck my tongue out as far as it would go. It was strangely fun. As I continued goofing off, an idea struck me, and I pictured the look I wanted. Chara. She could always make this super creepy face that I always thought was so cool. I mimicked it, but stopped when I saw it in the mirror. Thinking of Chara suddenly made me feel cold and empty inside.

In an instant, all of my amusement was gone, replaced with horrible sorrow. I let my face slide back into what was apparently this form's normal appearance, two blank eyes and a simple mouth. All the joy at messing with this form was lost in the memory of events that had led to me having this stupid body. I turned away from the mirror, feeling sick. I couldn't stay in this room any longer.

I left in a daze, not really paying attention to where I was going. I wandered the halls, aimless, just another misshapen denizen of this lab created in a failed experiment. My thoughts were interrupted when I spotted light up ahead. I bee-lined towards it, hoping to give myself something to preoccupy my mind. I slowed as I got closer and could make out Sans standing in the middle of the lit room. He had obviously turned on the light, and my eye was immediately drawn to the reason why.

Set in front of the skeleton was a giant machine. I had never seen the thing before. I suppose that shouldn't have surprised me since I usually avoided this place, but seeing the great machine surprised me. The machine was huge, but the biggest oddity was its shape. It was like the skull of a giant goat. It looked somehow familiar, and watching Sans quickly reminded me of what.

As if reading my mind, Sans brought a hand up and summoned one of his laser cannon things that he had killed me with so many times before. He glanced between it and the machine, the two almost identical. He waved his own magic away, letting it dissolve into glowing blue dust, then walked closer to the machine. He muttered something under his breath, but I couldn't make out anything he said. This was certainly curious. I tried to read Sans's expression, but though his eyes had gone dark, I couldn't discern what he was thinking.

I surfaced at the entrance of the room, glancing between the skeleton and the machine. "Golly, that thing's practically a spitting image of your magic, huh?" Sans turned to look at me, but he seemed lost in thought.

"Nah," he said in his normal nonchalant tone. "This thing's way creepier." I gave him a level look, taking in his equally creepy grin.

"Ok. Why does it look like your magic?" I asked flatly.

"Good question," he said, closing both his eyes as if in thought. "I was wondering that a bit myself." His eyes slowly slid open and I could tell that he was indeed puzzling something through. I was pretty sure he knew more than he was letting on, though.

"Alright, wise guy, so what does it do?" He turned back to it, concern etching his face.

"Dunno. The computer system says it's a determination extraction machine. Probably what Alphys used to experiment on the human souls." He shrugged, offering no more explanation. Determination extraction machine, huh? I had pictured her using something more like a syringe, not a giant creepy death skull. I also got the distinct impression that Sans wasn't telling me everything and that annoyed me more than anything else.

"Well, whatever," I said, feeling miffed. "The doc isn't here, so this has been nothing but a giant waste of time. Thanks for that. Any other bright ideas, genius?"

"Hey now, easy on the sarcasm. I wouldn't call this a waste of time. I've learned a great deal down here."

I scowled. "Great. Care to share your big discoveries?" He waved a hand dismissively.

"I doubt you'd find it very useful," he said simply. I was about to protest when he pulled out a stack of papers covered in lines and some strange nonsensical symbols. Blueprints of some sort? The skeleton stuffed them back in his coat pocket before I could get a clear look at them. "Just stuff for my own personal project." He turned and started walking back down the hallway. "Dr. Alphys is probably at the garbage dump. I got what I wanted, so I'm outta here."

It took all of my self-mastery to not attack the trash bag and try to kill him again. Words could not describe how much I hated him and my whole body shook with rage. That manipulative little jerk. He knew he wanted something out of the lab, so he used me to get down here, making me traipse through this empty spooky place just so he could meet his own agenda. Heck, he dragged his own brother into this potentially dangerous situation. After spending a few minutes containing my anger, I followed after him, taking only a single glance behind me at the looming form of the machine.

" _Hey, now that I can see the real stars, I can finally make a wish."_

" _..."_

" _I wish that you and I could be together forever."_

"Augh!" Papyrus cried, stripping away slime from himself. "My hotpants will be forever ruined!" I didn't even have the emotional capacity to chuckle at his misfortune. Sans had somehow vanished in the corridor ahead of me and I had been forced to find Papyrus and navigate us out of the true lab by myself.

Apparently, the taller skeleton had run into the dog amalgamate I had seen Alphys taking care of once before. The thing hadn't been intending to harm Papyrus, but it had spotted bones and had instinctively mauled him to use him as a chew toy. Papyrus appeared to be just fine, but he was covered from head to toe in drool.

"That's not a big loss," I said, not even caring if I insulted the skeleton anymore. Papyrus rubbed the back of his head, further spreading slime across his bones.

"Well, I, the Great Papyrus, will not stand for it! I shall head for my house post-haste! The quest for finding Dr. Alphys will have to resume after I change into clothes more fitting for our adventure!" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Or I could go talk to her without you," I noted. "You don't have to come with me for everything, you know."

"Quite right, you are! Nyeh heh heh! Indeed, parting ways would be highly beneficial for all of us! That way we can accomplish twice as much! You are always full of such excellent ideas, little Asriel!" I winced, still not used to people knowing my real name. For whatever reason, I found that it was starting to bother me. This form could hardly be called Asriel anymore.

I nodded to him, giving him a false smile. "Alright. See you in a bit." I dove down into the soil and headed off to the garbage dump. I thought it was a strange place for Alphys to be, but I did vaguely recall seeing her there once before. How Sans knew where she was remained a mystery, but I really did not want to think about that smelly trash heap. It rankled my nerves that he had used me so selfishly. I hated being manipulated.

When I got to the garbage dump, all I could see were stacks and stacks of junk piled high to the cave ceiling. I spotted Undyne first, her slender form towering beside a blob of garbage. She looked pleased, and as I approached her, I could hear her chatting amiably about the game we had played for Papyrus's initiation into the Royal Guard. I was a bit surprised to note that a lot of her conversation included me, and it felt odd knowing that other people were talking about me now. I didn't particularly care for it.

Alphys's head popped out of the mess closest to Undyne and I vaguely realized that what I had taken to be more junk was actually the doctor's body leaned over the stack. "W-wow," she stammered, her cheeks aglow, "you always do the coolest things, Undyne. I w-wish I could be... Erm... Well, look at what I found!" She quickly directed Undyne's attention to a small, battered plushie she abruptly pulled out. I couldn't tell if the thing was supposed to be humanoid or not. Humans made the weirdest looking things sometimes.

Once again, I was reminded of just how useless the doctor was. What was I supposed to do, pop out of the ground and ask her if she knew where the king kept his precious human souls? Hi there, don't mind me, I just really want some souls. I seriously doubted that she knew where they were anyway. I also didn't feel like explaining myself yet again. It was bad enough that the skeleton brothers knew who I was. Did I really want to go through yet another pity party to explain myself to people who couldn't help me anyway? No, not really.

As I sat contemplating this below the rushing water, Undyne gave her friend a soft smile. "Awww, it's so cute," she said. "Just like you." It was almost enough to make me throw up, despite the fact that I didn't have a stomach. Cute was most certainly not a term I would apply to either of the two. The complement made Alphys blush even deeper and she began stammering for a bit about the television show the stuffed animal originated from or some other stupid nonsense like that.

It took a great deal of self-mastery not to give up on this whole endeavor. For some reason, the thought of admitting to Papyrus that I hadn't actually talked to the doctor was the only thing that kept me from turning around and returning to Snowdin. I grit my teeth and surfaced close to Undyne.

"Howdy!" I said in as cheery a tone as I could manage.

"Oh, hey there, punk!" Undyne said, giving me a huge grin. "You feeling any better?" I glanced to the side, biting my lip.

"A bit," I said, not wanting to elaborate on the subject.

Undyne turned to Alphys who was gazing at me with a surprised expression on her face. "Hey, this is the flower I was telling you about!" Concern riddled the doctor's expression suddenly and she pushed herself away from the pile of garbage, plushie held forgotten to her side.

"Huh." she mumbled.

I opened my mouth and closed it again, trying to find the right words to say. "Nice to see you again, doc." I finally stated. Alphys was staring at me, probably beginning to make the connection between a talking flower and her little experiments she had been trying to form.

"Whoa, whoa, you two've already met?" Undyne asked suddenly, realizing what I had implied. I chuckled to myself.

"In a manner of speaking," I said, not breaking eye contact with Alphys. "The doc here created me."

That made Undyne blink hard and Alphys lifted a hand up to chew on her claws unconsciously. I grinned, picturing my amorphous face making the happiest, most innocent expression I could manage.

"You mean it actually worked?!" Alphys blurted.

"You mean Alphys made you like what she did with Mettaton?! That is so cool! Alphys, your experiments are the best!"

Explaining myself all over again was really getting on my nerves. "Yeah, yeah, well, it's not like she meant to. Moving on. I got a question for you, doc." I gave her a level expression, trying to get straight to the point. "You created me in an attempt to break the barrier, right?"

Undyne's eyes went wide and she gave her friend an incredulous expression. Alphys bit her lip before nodding. "Y-yes. Well, I made you to hold the s-souls so we could use both monster souls and human souls. B-but, uh... The, um, hm..."

"The experiments on the monsters didn't work. Yeah, yeah, I know. But did you know you don't even need to use the monster souls?" Alphys blinked and exchanged glances with Undyne again. I grinned, glad I was getting somewhere finally. I kind of wished Undyne wasn't there, but there wasn't any way to avoid that.

"All it takes to cross the barrier is one monster soul and one human soul. If I were to cross the barrier, then I could go to the human world and collect the final soul needed to come back and break the barrier." Something about what I had just said suddenly stood out to me as a potential flaw with my plan. It took one monster soul, and I didn't have one of those. It probably wouldn't be a problem. If I could get all of the souls, that would be enough to do the job.

Strangely, it was Undyne who reacted first. "Wait, seriously?" she asked. "You mean we could go free right now!" Alphys chewed on her thumb in deep thought, contemplating this new information.

"Wow. Y-yeah. I mean, your theory is unproved, b-but I think you may be right."

I shook my head. "It's been proven before," I stated. "You remember when I- er- Asriel absorbed Chara's soul? The human that first fell down?" I bit my lower lip, not wanting to explain yet again that I was Asriel back from the dead. Alphys's eyes went wide as she remembered hearing about the event.

"Huh. Y-yeah. I do. Huh." She made eye contact again. "Th-this is phenomenal! We'll have to tell King Asgore!" I scowled in irritation. It seemed that every last one of these morons thought that everything would be solved by telling King Asgore the information he already knew.

"You did it!" Undyne cheered, picking Alphys up into a big hug and swinging her around in a wide circle. My scowl grew ever deeper.

"Wow, way to give her all the credit," I remarked sourly. "Anyway, we can't tell Asgore." Undyne ceased her rejoicing and looked at me in confusion, still holding Alphys squished against her chest. Then her eye narrowed.

"And why is that?" Undyne asked suspiciously.

My temper broke. "Because he's a freaking moron!" I shouted. "That idiot won't follow through with his plan! He doesn't want to! He's way too big a softie. He doesn't want to go to the surface and kill all the humans up there."

Surprisingly, it was Alphys who interrupted my rant. "But that doesn't m-make any sense!" I glowered at her. "Th-the king had me doing experiments on souls so we could break the barrier. I-if he didn't want to do it, why would he go so far to collect the human souls he already has?" For some reason, my little burst of anger had apparently made her angry, too, and she met my expression glare for glare.

Undyne set Alphys back down on the ground and rubbed her chin. "Hang on, Alphy, I think the flower may be right." The doctor looked up in surprise, not expecting Undyne to take the other side on this argument. "I've known Asgore better than anyone. The guy's got too big a heart for his own good." Undyne looked away, her facial expression somewhat sad. "He told me one time that he regretted killing the humans. I think that's a load of bull considering the hell they've put us through, but..."

She met my eyes, determination suddenly shining through like a physical aura. "Alright, punk! So what's the plan?"

"Uhhhh." I really wished I knew. Thankfully, my brain filled in information for me. "Well, we just need to get those souls. The question I had for you, doc, was whether or not you knew where King Asgore keeps them." There. I said it.

Alphys stood staring at the ground for a long moment, claw tucked beneath her chin. Finally, she spoke. "W-well, no, I don't know where they are." I narrowed my eyes but found that I wasn't surprised. Part of me was almost pleased. See, Mr. garbage bag? Alphys is completely useless. "But I have an idea of how I can get them for you," she finished.

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting that. I cocked my head. The doctor looked up, meeting my gaze with a strangely devious expression on her face as she peered over her glasses. "Meet me in my lab. I'll get those souls for you." She nodded in determination an scuttled away, splashing water out behind her. I opened my mouth to say something, but she was long gone.

I scowled in frustration. I really didn't want to wait around for forever when I could be doing something instead. I seriously doubted she had a way to get those souls anyway. That just made me all the more curious as to how she thought she was going to go about doing it. I was about to head after her when Undyne stopped me.

"Hang on a sec," she said, her voice dark. "I need to talk to you." I gave the direction Alphys had gone a despairing look knowing that I would lose her if I stayed back, but I couldn't very well just leave Undyne here either. With a sigh, I turned to raise an eyebrow at the fish lady. Her expression had twisted into one of calculated distrust. Great, what had I done now?

"Something's been bugging me about all of this." She wasn't looking at me and was instead staring intently at the ground. "You said that your entire mission was to break the barrier. And I get that. But..." Her head jolted up, her remaining yellow eye aflame. "Why in the world didn't you tell me about this before?!"

I hadn't been expecting that. I found that I didn't know what to say, so I just stared dumbly back at her for a moment, giving her the opportunity to continue. "You knew that there was a better way to break the barrier, but when you had the chance to talk to me earlier, all you could talk about was Papyrus! What's your deal?! Why the hell did you wait until now to tell me about this?!"

For some reason, I abruptly found Undyne's outburst amusing. There really was no reason to, but I grinned all the same. "And what would you have been able to do even if I told you earlier?" I asked innocently. She grit her teeth and was about to retort, but I interrupted her. "I've been trying to solve this issue on my own for a while now and nothing's worked. It was a last-minute resort to try to find Alphys and talk to her about it. If I had told you earlier, you would have stormed up to Asgore and demanded that he give you the souls. All that would do is make him angry and he would fight to protect them." I shook my head, trying to dispel the images of that exact event happening in the past.

Undyne glared down at the ground, wanting to argue but knowing that I spoke the truth. Then she snorted out a chuckle and her expression eased into a smirk. Obviously, she was picturing herself beating up Asgore as well. I breathed a sigh of relief now that the tension was gone. I hoped that explanation would be sufficient for her. I really didn't want to explain the fact that I could go back in time to her.

Finally, she met my eyes with a softer expression. "Alright, you got me there. But don't think this is over, punk! I still don't quite trust you! There's just this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that keeps telling me that you're the enemy here, and that really bugs the crap out of me!"

I frowned, but decided that her distrust of me was just part of her nature. No one ever remembered the resets. "Well, hopefully we can get the barrier open," I said in an attempt to change the subject. I grinned widely. "Then we can decide whether I'm the enemy here or not." Before she could say anything more, I dove beneath the ground and started after Alphys in the hopes of catching up to her.

" _Haha! Asriel, I really don't think you have to worry about that anymore! You absorbed my soul! Of course I'm going to be with you forever! Nothing could ever separate us."_

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't find Alphys anywhere. I had no idea where that stubby lizard had disappeared off to. Not knowing what she planned to do didn't help either. I went to the capital in the hopes of finding her there, but neither she nor Asgore were in any of the places I would have expected them to be. In frustration, I decided to follow orders and wait for Alphys back at her lab.

The lights were all off when I got there, and I quickly grew bored and decided to explore the true lab again. I was especially interested in the determination extraction machine, so I bee-lined there. It was the only thing I really didn't know anything about and I hated not knowing things. The machine was supposed to work with souls, so maybe I could discover something useful.

It took me a bit of time to find the room again. It was tucked away in a back hall and I hadn't really been paying attention to where I was when I had first found the thing. When I did find it, it seemed much spookier than it had before. I didn't remember turning the lights off when I had left, but the room was pitch black other than the soft illumination of blinking lights coming from the computers and machinery in the room. I hesitantly approached, wary of the chasm that separated the machine from the walkway. I couldn't see the bottom of the pit and I vaguely wondered why it was there in the first place. Just to keep curious flowers away from it I guess.

I wandered over to the computer monitor set into the wall closest to the machine and surfaced. I latched a vine into the ceiling and raised myself up so I could get a better look at the thing. It read "DETERMINATION EXTRACTION MACHINE" in huge letters. I scowled. So helpful.

I was about to poke at the screen when the distinct sound of footsteps echoed in the room. I jumped and turned towards the sound, but could see nothing in the darkness. I would have thought that it was one of those stupid monster blob things, but the footstep sounded too solid to be one of them.

A loud clanging sound came from the opposite side of the room from where the footsteps had been and I jerked my body around to stare in that direction. It was probably just the general creepy feel of this place, but I found that I was frightened. The logical part of me chided my useless emotions. There was nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all. The fact that everything was plunged in darkness and only faintly lit was doing nothing for my nerves. It was worse than the darkening lantern room.

I grit my teeth and turned back to the computer screen, determined not to let this spooky place get to me. The moment I had my back to the empty room, though, the footsteps came back, louder and closer than before. In frustration, I dropped to the floor, not wanting to be caught in a vulnerable position suspended halfway in the air. I turned around and squinted, gradually making out a figure stepping out of the darkness and into the glowing light of the computer screen.

I sighed in relief when the figure turned out to be Sans, his eye-lights off. He looked extra creepy in the half-light, but at least I knew that he wasn't about to kill me. Scare the crap out of me, maybe, but not kill me. Yet. "What are you still doing here?" I snapped. "I thought you left!"

He chortled deep in his throat, closing his eyes. "Funny, I could ask you the same thing," he said. I scowled.

"Alphys told me to wait in her lab while she got the souls for me. So here I am. What's your excuse, Chuckles?" Both of his hands were stuffed in his pockets and he had stopped at the very edge of the light, too far away to properly strangle. It was incredibly suspicious that he was hanging around here in this creepy place with all the lights off.

His eyes slowly eased open, the eye-lights in his sockets shining softly. "Sorry, bud," he said simply, "I'm 'fraid you won't be seeing Alphys down here any time soon." I was more than a little miffed that he had pointedly ignored my question, but my curiosity got the better of me.

"Oh? And why's that?" I asked, still annoyed.

He sighed, closing his eyes again. He didn't respond for a while and let the silence eat away at my fraying patience. "I've been doing a bit of research," he said finally. He was still not answering my questions and I barely refrained myself from growling in frustration. "I thought about your story and did a bit of digging. Seems to me you're telling the truth. However..." He leaned forward, letting the light cast strange shadows over his huge grin. "You're a bit lacking in the soul department, aint'cha?"

I ground my teeth. What in the world did that have anything to do with anything? Suddenly his eyes blanked out and his left socket flashed yellow and blue. I instinctively jerked back, though I internally scolded myself for the stupid reaction. He was on my side this time. Wasn't he?

"Thought so," he mumbled mostly to himself. Then he raised his voice to direct his next question at me. "How many times have I killed you in the past?"

Shock filled me. How did he figure that out? Shock turned to shame and I found that I couldn't look at him anymore. My gaze instantly dropped to the ground and I stared at the blank wall on my right. Why was I so embarrassed? That was such a stupid emotion. I stood my ground, but I was getting a very bad feeling about this. He started laughing again, but there was no humor in his hollow voice.

"Don't worry. I ain't gonna kill ya," he said, taking a few steps towards me. If the gesture was supposed to be comforting at all, I didn't feel it. "Just wanted to confirm my suspicions." He reached where I stood and I found that every muscle of my body was tensed to run. "So tell me, Asriel. What'ya plan on doing when the barrier's broken?"

I didn't respond. I found that I didn't have the words to respond. I didn't know. Part of me was frightened by that notion, but I had blocked that thought out. I didn't like his line of questioning. I hated him. I hated everything about him.

"Get away from me!" I shouted in a bout of rage. I summoned energy pellets and fired them at him more as a warning shot than anything else since I knew that he would just dodge the dumb things even if I did try to aim. I heard him chuckle in the darkness and when I glanced at him, he was standing back a few feet.

"Geez, kid, take it easy. It's a simple enough question. Look, what you did in the past, different timelines, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not one to judge. And quite honestly, what I've seen of you, you've done nothin' but good so far. Just look at Papyrus. My bro's a full member of the Royal Guard now, thanks to you."

"Why are you talking to me?" I interrupted. I didn't want to hear him babble anymore. He was getting on my nerves. He fell silent for a blissful moment, but then he started laughing again.

"That's a bit rude. Why should I not talk to you? I'm rootin' for ya, kid."

I sensed a pun in there somewhere and that annoyed me to no end. "Then why did you say I'm not going to see Alphys any time soon?" He dropped dead silent and the humor vanished from him, leaving nothing but an empty shell of bones.

"Ah, there's the kicker, eh?" he said at last. I finally tore my eyes away from the wall and gave him a distrustful glare. What was he up to? He was staring into space looking strangely sad.

"Look, buddy," he said quietly, "breaking the barrier's a pretty great thing you're doin'. Congrats to you finding a way. However, giving those souls to you and turning you into an all powerful being sounds like a bad idea. Guess I'm a fickle person, but I don't really trust you."

I narrowed my eyes at him, anger filling me again. He was trying to stop me. Getting in my way. Again. I hadn't even done anything wrong this time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, walking towards me with deliberate steps. I tensed and prepared myself to fight.

He stopped about a pace in front of me. Gradually, his eyes slid open. His brow was knotted into a look of concern, almost pity or compassion. I hated seeing him look down on me like that. I didn't need any useless pity, especially not from this guy.

"If your only goal really was to open the barrier, you'd have no problems letting someone else do it, right? You understand, don'tcha?" I found that I was shaking. I was trembling with sheer rage and hatred of this man. He didn't understand. He never understood. Why was he standing between me and my goal yet again?!

"You're the one who doesn't understand!" I yelled. "I have worked too hard for this! Harder than anyone else! I've died countless times! My best friend died because of it! I'm stuck as a stupid flower because of it! The one who's going to break that barrier once and for all is me! Me!"

I panted for a moment, glaring at him in the darkness. He seemed taken aback, surprised by my outburst. Then the tears came. I cursed myself for my cry-baby self. My vision blurred and stung with the tears and I shook them away angrily. I didn't want to deal with this man anymore. I dove beneath the tiled floor and fled to the upper part of Alphys's lab.

Part of me had hoped that Alphys would have returned by now, but she had not. The place was just as empty and dark as the true lab had been down below. I huddled beside Alphys's cube-shaped bed and tried to make the tears stop. Why was I so useless? Why could nothing ever go as planned? As I sat there, rage and determination filled me.

Who cared about that stupid skeleton? I would get those souls and break the barrier whether I had his support or not. I took several deep breaths and my tears dried. All I had to do was find Alphys. If she really had gotten those souls, that was all I needed to do. Find Alphys and break the barrier before Sans could stop me. With this ingrained in my head, I began to scour the Underground.

" _We are bound together by fate."_

I was on my way to the Capital when I spotted that stupid monster kid running through Hotlands. What the heck was he doing all the way out here? Curiosity got the better of me and I surfaced in front of him. Besides, maybe he had a good idea of where Alphys had gone.

"Yo!" the kid shouted when he spotted me. "You're heading to the barrier, too?" I raised an eyebrow at him. The barrier? Why was he going to the barrier? He reached me and began jumping from one foot to the other, unable to contain his excitement. "Isn't it so great?! Undyne is the best!"

"Isn't what so great?" I asked.

"Yo! You didn't hear?! Undyne and Alphys found a way to get through the barrier! Undyne absorbed all the human souls and she's going to go to the human world! Oh man, those humans are sure in for some trouble! Undyne's gonna go up there and kick all their butts!"

I nearly choked. No way. No!

There wasn't any time to waste. Without explaining myself or saying goodbye, I dove beneath the ground and went straight for the barrier as fast as I could.

" _Not even death could keep us apart."_

The Underground became a blur as I rushed through it. I needed to get there in time to- … What? Stop Undyne from absorbing the souls? If what that stupid kid said was true, it was far too late for that. But I needed to know. I needed to see it for myself.

On my way there, I noted a number of guards milling about. I would have completely ignored them, but I noted as I passed that one was saying something along the lines of needing to find "That flower" and stop it from getting to the capital. I grit my teeth and hurried on. It seemed the whole Underground had turned against me.

At last I made it to the chamber beyond the throne room that led to the barrier. I could hear the eerie hum from the barrier this close. Without taking heed to what lay in the chamber, I surfaced the moment I got there. The sight that filled my eyes was horrifying.

Undyne had transformed into a horrendous thing. Absorbing souls had the tendency to transform monsters into something far greater. I myself had transformed when I had absorbed Chara's soul, though I wasn't entirely sure what I had looked like then. I was sure that it was nothing compared to the beastly Undyne.

Dangerous looking red-orange ribbed fins fanned out from her limbs, large enough that they brushed the floor and walls of the cavern. Her body had grown almost serpentine in appearance: long, sleek, and muscular, not to mention huge. Her scales were shimmering with patches of pure magical energy that rippled in the light, her hair becoming a full mane drifting down the length of her body along with her fins. Somehow, she maintained enough of her appearance to still be considered Undyne, but the changes were phenomenal.

I felt something deep within myself break and I stood there dumbly. Lost. I had been betrayed. "Why?" I whispered. Undyne turned her head in my direction and sneered at me, flicking her fins dangerously. Her fangs had become even more prominent, jutting forth from her mouth in great wicked curved blades.

"Heya, punk! About time you showed up!" Her voice seemed almost layered, like multiple people were speaking at once.

My body and brain were numb. I felt like I was in a dream, watching this nightmare come to pass. Then the anger came, like someone had infused me with a serum of pure rage. "How dare you!" I shouted. Undyne narrowed her eye.

"So you're Asriel Dreemur, huh?" I jumped a little at my old name, surprised to hear it coming from Undyne. "Yeah, that's right. Sans gave us the whole run-down. Told us your little story of woe. But he also told me something interesting." She gracefully turned to face me full on, her fins gliding around like a cloak. "You don't have a soul. What's more, you've been traveling through time, messing with us like puppets. Seems to me you've been treating this whole thing like a game. And that really bugs the hell out of me."

I found that her words did nothing but fuel my own incomprehensible anger. I was betrayed on so many levels. It wasn't just Sans anymore. Undyne. Alphys. I had done nothing but help them and they betrayed me. Undyne whipped back around having said her piece and started towards the barrier.

"So I'm going to break the barrier. You shouldn't have anything to be upset about. This is what you wanted, isn't it?" I was trembling. I felt like there was something inside of me that was trying to burst through this empty shell of a body. I wanted to lash out at her, lash out at the whole Underground. But instead I was stuck in this meager frame and I knew there was nothing I could do about it. The souls were already gone. Everything was gone.

"No! NO!" I shouted. I hurried in front of her and surfaced again, wielding all of my strength in a wave of power. Undyne narrowed her eye and batted it aside with her bare hand like she was swatting away a fly. I couldn't let her do this. I just couldn't!

She started laughing. "Do you really think you can stop me, punk! You're nothing but a pathetic flower! You don't even have proper magic power like a real monster! You're nothing but a soulless husk!" She held her hands to the side, fins flicking out behind, and a great spear formed in her hands, the tip hooked wickedly. "Not even Asgore could stop me," Undyne mumbled.

I was crying. It was a dim awareness as though I was noting that someone else had started to cry. It didn't feel real. All I felt was betrayal. Rage. Determination. I wasn't sure what I hoped to accomplish. Fighting Undyne was a hopeless endeavor. But I had to try. I had to do something.

I pulled my roots from the ground, unraveling as many as I could into long tendrils of vines covered in thorns. I had never tried anything like this before, but it was all or nothing. I shot two of them forward, intent on wrapping around a limb. They were cleanly severed before they reached their mark and pain flooded through me. I ignored it. Nothing hurt worse than my own emotions.

"What about Papyrus?!" I shouted. "What about everything I've done for you?!" I unleashed the words with another bout of energy, surpassing the measly form of pellets.

I barely saw Undyne tense before she was on top of me, spear point skewered into one of my petals next to my face, cutting it in two. I didn't have the state of mind to scream. I only stared wild-eyed at the monster looming above me.

"What kind of a fool do you take me for?" she sneered, leaning down close enough that I could smell her breath. "You never cared about Papyrus or any of us! You were only looking out for yourself!" She whipped her spear back, leaping backwards in the process and sent me flying with the tip. I crashed against the back of the cavern wall and I could feel the breath rush out of me from the impact. With a groan, I slid to the ground upside-down.

I untangled my roots and tried to pull myself upright, though agony accompanied every movement. Even with my flood of anger, the pain cut through to my consciousness. I found that I no longer had the strength to dive below the surface and try to get to safety. Undyne only leered at me with cold resolve in her eyes.

"Stay down if you know what's good for you," she commanded. Breathing heavily, I lifted my head to glare at her defiantly, my teeth grit in hatred. Unfortunately, that was all I could manage. She hadn't done enough damage to kill me, but I was weakened to the point where I could no longer use any magic. I knew I was defeated, but that just made me want to fight back all the more.

"Sans put you up to this, didn't he?!" I yelled. She scoffed.

"As if I'd let that guy order me around. The only thing Sans did was fill me in on what was going on." She glared. "Filled in all the gaps you left with your filthy lies."

I found that I was too out of breath to properly retort. In disdain, Undyne turned her back to me. I pulled a vine out from underneath me and shot it towards Undyne's exposed back. In a blur, she swung a fin behind her which absorbed the blast and she tossed a spear that she hadn't even needed to spend time summoning. The spear rammed into my stem and pinned me to the ground. She then flipped around as though nothing had happened and traipsed straight towards the glowing shield that had us all trapped in the Underground.

The moment Undyne phased through the barrier, I whipped my head back and let out a wordless yell that rang through the cavern. I was helpless and betrayed. No one in this Underground deserved my help. There was no such thing as friendship. In this world, there's only kill or be killed.

I felt so frustrated and angry. For just a moment, I had held some hope that I might actually accomplish my goal. And yet still everything had come crashing down around me. This whole timeline had been rendered useless. I stared defiantly at the way Undyne had gone, my vision slowly easing to black as my consciousness ebbed. With the last of my energy, I pooled together my determination and reset.


	12. Final Reset: The Beginning

" _How could you?! You betrayed me! I trusted you with my life! How could you?!"_

" _..."_

I had barely even opened my eyes to take in the all-too-familiar view of the throne room when I lashed out in anger. The rush of determination still flooded my system from the reset, and the extra boost fueled my emotions of raw hatred. In a matter of seconds, I had lain waste to the garden around me in a blind rage. I found myself panting, head drooped low to stare at the tiled ground. The bleary edges of my vision revealed broken remains of stems and petals scattered all around me. I didn't care. I hated them anyway.

Slowly, the surge of power ebbed, but I found that I didn't want it to. With a wordless yell, I stoked my determination again and everything flashed to white. Just like that, the flowers in the throne room were restored to perfect health. I destroyed them again.

Emotions stormed through me as I killed the flowers, reset, and killed them again time after time. I could feel the anger surge through me and transform into the physical power with which I lashed out. Wave after wave of magic burst from the pool of emotions deep inside my core. Finally, after what felt like hours of senseless slaughter, my anger eased enough that I was able to regain control of myself. As the heat of hatred drained from me, I was left feeling cold. Numb.

Why? Why had they betrayed me? I had been trying to help them, and they had turned on me. It wasn't just that trash bag of a skeleton either, it was all of them. The whole Underground. I had done nothing wrong, and they killed me for it. Undyne, Alphys, Sans, the whole lot of them.

Suddenly, a wave of hopelessness washed over me. What was I supposed to do now? I frowned bitterly at one of the golden flowers growing beside me. Just seconds before, that flower had been nothing but stubble. Nothing I had done previously mattered. Everything I had accomplished as a flower had been erased. There was nothing I could do.

I could feel thick tears roll down my face and the flower blurred into splotches of colors. "It's not fair," I whispered hoarsely. "It just isn't fair." I took a shuddering breath and sank a few inches into the soil, letting despair fill the void of my soul.

"Chara!" I wailed, whipping my head back and calling with my might. "Chara! Oh God. What am I supposed to do? Oh, Chara. Please." My voice trailed off into the faint echo left by the reverberating hall. "Please come back," I mumbled.

But, of course, nobody came. Chara was dead. No one would come to my aid. No one would help. No one cared.

" _Why does this always happen to me? Why is it that every time I try to do the right thing, all I end up doing is getting hurt?"_

I wandered around the Underground aimlessly for an embarrassing amount of time. I didn't know what to do, but I also didn't feel like standing still. Part of the problem was that I found that I suddenly had no motivation to do much of anything. The only thing that kept me from crumbling into dust was the fear of dying. I didn't want to die, and that alone seemed to be enough.

Eventually, I found myself in Waterfall staring into the waters at my wavering reflection. Through the ripples of the current, I could see the form of a sorrowful golden flower staring into space. I chose to look past it at the rocks below the surface of the water. Faintly, I thought back to the time when Chara and I had been sitting on this very bank throwing rocks into the water, talking about our latest schemes, and planning for our next adventures.

My thoughts were interrupted by a faint melody echoing somewhere upriver. I blinked in surprise, though my mind instantly connected the song with the river person. It had felt like forever since I had even seen the cloaked monster, which was odd considering how many resets I had been through since then. I scowled. Not that those resets even mattered anymore.

I thought about retreating to be left alone with my thoughts, but some part of me was longing for company. I watched stoically as the sleek, narrow boat came into view, the river person standing high on it with a long oar dipped into the water. "Tra la la, the angel has fallen to death and decay. When will he be reborn? Tra la la, tho monsters may see the clear light of the day, no one will know his true form." The river person's voice rose and fell, but my mind was too preoccupied to pay much attention to the lyrics. I only numbly noticed when the boat scraped to a halt beside me and the river person turned to look at me. Oddly enough, the mast of the boat also turned in my direction. The movement shocked me out of my reverie and I jumped a little as the mast leaned down to get a closer look, the wood carved into the shape of some animal. Was the boat another monster? I could have sworn it was just a plain old boat every other time I had seen it, but enough time had passed since then that I abruptly found myself doubting my own memory.

"Tra la la. Good midday to you, friend," the river person said in their usual sing-song voice. I frowned as I stared at the empty eyes of the boat monster before shaking my head and pointedly ignoring it, directing my gaze back to the cloaked figure riding on top. The river person took my silence as an opportunity to continue talking. "I like to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?" I didn't say anything, but I glanced around the cavern briefly before tentatively climbing aboard, keenly aware that the boat was watching my every movement. The moment I was sitting behind the river person, the boat turned straight forward again and shoved away from the rocky shore. "Then we're off."

The boat ride was strangely relaxing. My unease from the living boat quickly vanished as the familiar feeling of floating down the river calmed me. I found that I didn't really care where the river person decided to take me today, even if we ended up circling the underground for the rest of eternity. "Tra la la, this river has finally reached its end, another to take up the flow. Tra la la, when will our prison be opened again? The souls of the fallen will show." Although the lyrics of the song were just as bizarre as always, they seemed to be less silly than usual, and the melody sounded almost sad. I found myself intently listening to the words this time, anything to take my mind off of my own emotions. As always, the lyrics seemed to nag at me like I was missing something important about them. I puzzled it out in my mind as I listened, my eyes absently tracing the pattern of light dancing on the cave ceiling.

"Tra la la, look above through the rock to the skies. Tra la la, soon they will fall, the lost in disguise. Tra la la, the two will be united again. Tra la la, will they be foe? Or will they be friend?"

"Tra la la, perhaps it is time for you to decide. Tra la la, will you or won't you free us this time?"

What? What'd he mean, "this time?" I'd tried to free everyone countless times! It wasn't possible. I grit my teeth in annoyance. Not that the song was talking about me. If I had a guess, it was something to do with the mythical angel prophecy, that stupid fairy tale someone made up to give the monsters hope. Or something.

Rocks ground against wood and I blinked, not expecting the trip to end so quickly. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the river person, but the cloaked figure didn't even look at me, merely staring off into space. The sudden silence was haunting, and I stepped off the boat feeling more than a little bit unnerved. "Come again sometime," the river person hummed in a low voice. I stood and watched as the boat floated away, a little more perturbed than I had been before the boat ride. Yet another weird encounter from the river person. Great.

I decided to focus on where I had been dropped off and found that I was in another location in Waterfall, though I didn't recognize the area. The path looked mostly worn and unused, and I guessed that not many monsters made their way through these tunnels. I sighed in irritation, frustrated that I had been dumped off in the middle of nowhere, but decided to follow the trail. I hadn't gone very far when something caught my eye. At first, I thought it was a monster, but as I approached it, I noticed that it wasn't living. It was a stone carving made to look like a monster.

I frowned. I had never seen this statue before, and looking at it closer, I found that it vaguely resembled my father. Some of the features were worn away, probably because there was water continually dripping from the ceiling and onto the stone, but the horns coming from its head were too similar to my father's to be anything else. After a while of looking the statue over, I noticed that there were a few words engraved on the base of the statue. I scanned over them, blinked, then reread them to make sure I hadn't imagined them.

"In Memory of Asriel and Chara Dreemer."

There was also a date inscribed beside it, though the stone had broken away enough that I could no longer read it. Somehow I knew that the date inscribed was the day I had died. Finally, the tears came. I shuddered as sadness overrode the emptiness I had been feeling since I had reset. There was no reason to cry, and I found myself inwardly chiding myself for my weakness, but I couldn't stop the tears.

A disturbing thought came to me. My father had gone through the trouble to have this statue made, and yet for some reason it was sitting all alone in the middle of a random, abandoned tunnel in Waterfall. Clearly, he hadn't cared enough to ensure that it got a proper place. The thought stoked my anger aflame again, and I allowed that thought to cut through my stupid crying. This time, the anger burned low in me, not enough to fling me into a pointless rage, but enough that I could push past the depression.

Everyone had betrayed me. But that was no reason to give up and stop trying. Strangely, seeing the statue that had been constructed as a memorial of my death filled me with determination. I found myself once again determined to break the barrier. Not that these stupid monsters deserved freedom, but simply to prove them all wrong. They were busy looking for a dumb angel to come and save them but were too stupid to do anything about it themselves. Not this time. I would do it. No matter what. It was better than rotting away into nothing.

" _I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. For everything."_

" _No you're not."_

I was more than a little bit annoyed with myself that the first person I gravitated towards was Papyrus. Of all the traitors in the Underground, Papyrus was the only one who hadn't actively turned against me. He was the only person I could trust. The annoying part of it was that I knew that the only reason he hadn't turned on me was because he was far too stupid to accomplish such a feat.

After staring at the forgotten statue, I had to wander around the twisted corridors of Waterfall for an annoyingly long period of time in order to get my bearings again. Once I was back to familiar tunnels, I made my way back to Snowdin. I stopped by Undyne's house briefly, thinking that Papyrus might still be there hanging out with the crazy fish lady, but the skeleton was long gone by that point. Luckily, I spotted Papyrus running down the path between Waterfall and Snowdin where the air currents constantly whipped the snow up into blinding flurries.

As I neared him, I found myself hesitating. What was I supposed to say to him? What was I even going to do? I shook the questions aside. If I wavered now, then so did my determination. This was no time for stupid questions. I plowed ahead and popped up in front of the skeleton, scanning the area to make sure there weren't any other monsters in view. I didn't want to see any of them.

Papyrus didn't slow as he approached and I began to worry that he wouldn't stop, but just before I got stepped on, he slid to a halt and pointed dramatically at me. "Yellow!" he exclaimed. I blinked. What in the world? I opened my mouth, perplexed by his strange reaction, but Papyrus wasn't even looking at me anymore. He had his head tilted with his eyes closed, and he held a waggling index finger up before him. "Thought you could catch me off guard, did you? Well, I, the Great Papyrus, am never surprised! Even if there is a yellow flower growing in the snow that was not there this morning! Nyeh heh heh!."

I blinked, thoroughly confused. "What," I blurted.

"Yeeek!" Papyrus screeched, jumping away comically. "W-wowie! It's a talking flower!" He recovered quickly from his surprise, leaning forward as if to get a better look at me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to give him my best dead-pan expression. I had forgotten just how much of an idiot this guy was. However, I also didn't want to simply blow him off. Papyrus had become my main connection with anyone in the Underground. I didn't really have anything in particular to say to him, but I figured that I might as well be nice about it.

Besides, he could prove to be useful. Papyrus was incredibly easy to manipulate, so if he considered me to be his friend, I could call on him any time I needed something done. I broke out into a sudden, huge smile. "Howdy, Papyrus!"

He gasped, sparkles suddenly lighting up his eyes. "It knows my name!" he said. "Wowie! Does this mean I'm..." He paused, bringing a gloved hand to his jaw. "Popular?!" The skeleton appeared to be overjoyed at this prospect. I frowned, wondering if I had ever gotten such a reaction from him before. I didn't think I had, but I couldn't actually remember anymore. The skeleton abruptly regained his composure and cleared his throat, letting his voice drop to a regular pitch. "Nyeh heh heh! No doubt you've heard about me in hearsay. For truly, I am very great."

I shook off my frown, bringing back my fake grin. "Of course I've heard about you," I cooed. "You're The Great Papyrus! Everyone knows you're training under the direction of Undyne herself! Why, I'd say you're the best monster in this whole stupid Underground!"

I found that my heart really wasn't in it. Papyrus didn't seem to notice. He clasped his hands together and stared at me with a goofy expression, eye sockets sparkling. I chuckled to myself. Easiest person to manipulate ever. Papyrus shook himself again, trying and failing to not look like a complete idiot.

"Obviously, you are correct!" He said with only the tiniest hint of an awkward cough. "Now, how may I help you, my little flowery friend?" I continued to smile at him in false innocence.

"Oh, you don't have to do anything for me, Papyrus. I just wanted to say hi to you. That's all." I honestly wasn't sure what Papyrus could even do for me. He wasn't exactly any more capable of breaking the barrier than I was. I just wanted him on my side in case I did think of something he could do. My explanation to him seemed hollow, though. Just saying hi? Really?

Papyrus, fool as he was, smiled at me as if there was nothing weird about my reasoning. "Well, hello, then!" He said enthusiastically. I didn't really know how to respond to that.

"Um. Hello," I said instinctively. Papyrus nodded in approval.

"Consider it done! We have said hello! Now, onward to more great things!" He began to stroll down the path, clothes rippling in the wind and snow until I could barely see him anymore. I blinked, unsure if I was supposed to follow him or not. I simply gazed after him until swirling snow was the only thing I could see. With a shake of my head, I dove below ground.

Only then did Papyrus return with a gloved hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Erm. That was meant as a friendly gesture for you to come with me." He stopped when he reached the spot where I had previously been. "Hm?" he muttered, confused. "I could have sworn there had been a talking flower here moments ago! Aha! Some trickery of my imagination, no doubt!"

Despite his words, I could see him scanning the area, trying to search for me. Strangely, he did seem troubled by my disappearance. But what was I supposed to do? Pop up and say, "Oh, sorry about that, I thought you were leaving?"

After searching for a few moments, the skeleton made his way back home, still looking worried. I glanced to the side, feeling awkward. Well, that happened.

" _..."_

I spent a long time doing a lot of nothing. Nothing but watch. I watched people live their lives, and that was the extent of all I cared to do. I watched Undyne and Alphys' hopeless excuse for a relationship, watched Mettaton slowly transform Hotland to his whims and pleasure, watched my mother waste away in the ruins, and all the while I found that I just didn't care anymore. I hated all of them. What I did care about was an opportunity. If there was ever a moment that lent itself to helping me break the barrier, I wanted to be there for it. So I watched.

I tried talking with Papyrus a few more times, but found that I really didn't have much to say. Most of my conversations turned out to be similar to the first one: awkward and brief. I also had to find times when he wasn't with anyone, especially his trashy brother, and since Papyrus constantly went in and out of town, it was pretty rare that I found any good opportunities to speak with him.

At one point, I went back to the spooky machine in the lab under Alphys's house, but the computer didn't say much about how it worked or what it even did. There was no trace of those blueprints I had watched Sans take away previously, which was a little odd considering that I had reset. Who knew exactly where that jerk had even found the dumb things. It probably didn't matter anyway since I doubted that I could even use it. What was I going to do with a determination extracting machine? Extract my own determination? Then I would die. Brilliant.

On some days, I wasn't even sure why I kept going. Something about letting myself die just felt wrong to me, though. There was this huge unknown as to what would happen if I died. I had never really taken much thought to it before, but at least when I was still a goat, I had the reassurance that monsters would inhabit the thing they loved the most in life if their dust was scattered there. Well, I was now inhabiting a flower and I didn't have a soul. What would happen if I died again? Would I just cease to exist?

The thought was unnerving, but I found my mind wandering back to that topic time and time again. Sometimes it seemed like the only reason to keep going was simply because I was afraid of what would happen if I stopped. Apparently, that was all I needed.

I lost track of how much time slipped away. Probably months. I would wake up each morning, wander around until I found something interesting to look at, watch the idiots for the small amount of entertainment they had to offer, then somehow drift asleep when the day was over. Any semblance of a life I might have once had was gone.

Most of my time was spent below the surface. I was so tired of interacting with people. There wasn't much point to it anyway. I decided that I didn't really want to talk to anyone. Anyone but Papyrus, anyway. Although I visited him less frequently, I still held on to that link to reality, even if it was a stupid one. At the very least, he proved to be the most entertaining person to follow around.

I was both getting sick of the monotonous days as well as getting used to them. Monsters didn't matter anymore. Time didn't matter anymore. The only thing that really mattered was that I was going to break that barrier one way or another, and with every passing day, even that became less and less of a motivation. I simply was, and that was that.

" _I think Mom and Dad would be proud of us. I know, we didn't save everyone like we planned, but at least we tried. That's what matters in the end, right?"_

"U-Undyne!" Alphys called somewhere above me. I was a bit surprised to hear the scientist since it was rare that she ventured forth from her lab. Where was I, anyway? I hadn't been paying attention. I found that I tended to wander aimlessly underground a lot. Sometimes it took me a while to even find the caverns above if I drifted too far beneath the ground, lost somewhere in the void of the earth. Hearing the pathetic lizard girl snapped me out of my reverie and I looked around to gauge where I was. It looked like somewhere in Waterfall, maybe by the garbage dump. That would explain why Alphys was there.

"Alphys!" Undyne's voice responded fondly. Movement caught my eye, allowing me to spot the fish lady as she bounded over to where Alphys was peeking her head nervously around the corner. The lizard let out a squeak and a blush seeing her would-be lover leap towards her, and she ducked backwards out of view. "Hey, I've been waiting for you for forever! What took you?" Undyne asked as she neared her friend, a giant smile on her face.

I shook my head and grunted to myself. Nothing but a bunch of losers being gooey and friendship-y together. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything better to do, so out of habit, I watched them and listened in on their conversation. Eavesdropping had become my main source of entertainment nowadays.

Alphys shuffled forward, eyes glued to the ground to the left of her foot. "I-I-I'm s-sorry, Undyne. For, uh, being late I mean. Um. Something happened in the, er, s-something, uh, desperately needed my attention." Her eyes kept flicking back and forth as she tried to make excuses for what had kept her from coming sooner. From her evasiveness, I could only guess that one of the amalgamates had been causing trouble in the true lab. Either that or she had been binge-watching a show and lost track of time.

Undyne slapped Alphys on the back, making the smaller woman jump. "No worries! I'm sure it was important, whatever it was! So! What's the plan today?" That stupid grin never faded from the fish's lips. I could almost gag.

Alphys especially made me sick. I had stumbled into her talking to herself one day as she was pretending to be talking to Undyne. She had been so gushy, it was disgusting, and some of the things she implied... Ugh. Nasty. More than one occasion of observing the doctor when she thought she was alone made me conclude that her attraction to Undyne was more of an obsession in a gross sort of a way than any actual genuine love. It was kind of like her obsession with those cartoon thingies she watched, but somehow creepier because Undyne was a real person. Looking at the lizard now, I could see her blushing and sweating at various intervals, and I wished that I didn't know why.

Alphys glanced down awkwardly. "A-actually, I was kinda hoping to... Er. Well... See, there's this thing that I think would be cool... But, uh, I mean, you don't have to if... if... you don't want to..."

"What's that?" Undyne asked eagerly, encouraging her friend to spit out what she had in mind.

"Well, I was kinda thinking it would be neat to, uh, m-make costumes and stuff. For, like, the h-human history s-stuff I've been showing you." By this point, her cheeks were bright red and she looked about ready to turn and sprint down the corridor. I rolled my eyes. Who would actually believe that those stupid cartoons were human history?

Undyne, however, seemed to soak in the lies like a sponge. "Costumes of human history?" She instantly grinned at her friend. "Sounds awesome!" Then she got goo-goo-eyed and stared off dreamily into space. "Can I have one of those swords? Like, one of the huge ones?"

This made Alphys perk back up, seeing that Undyne wasn't as utterly appalled by her suggestion as I was. "Y-yeah, of course we can!" she said, picking up speed. "In fact, I know just the outfit for you!" I grimaced. I'm sure she did. Undyne, however, beamed at the prospect. Then she frowned with a look of contemplation. "What's wrong?" Alphys asked, suddenly nervous again.

"Hm. It's just that I don't know what to have you wear," she mused. Alphys turned a few shades redder.

"O-oh. Um, I w-was thinking of going as, uh, Mew Mew Kissy-Cutie," Alphys mumbled. "But, uh, i-if you wanted to, er..." Her expression shifted to a mixture of horror and desire. "dress me up as something?"

Undyne nodded solidly with a menacing grin, obviously not noting how contorted Alphys's face was. "Of course! You're picking something for me to wear, so it's only appropriate that I find something for you to wear!" Alphys said nothing and just stood there looking like a strangled cat. Undyne softened her smile to be more of a comforting one. "It'll be cute. I promise!"

"O-o-of course! Everything you wear is c-cute!" Her expression, however, did not improve.

Ugh. I hated these idiots. I shook my head in disgust. I had once thought that I could root for them to have a good relationship, but they were just so awful together. They were too dumb to see that of course, which made it all the worse.

"Hmm. Yeah! This sounds like a ton of fun! Think I could invite a few people to it?" Undyne asked. Alphys jumped again.

"I-i-invite?! What's there to, uh, b-be invited to?" She looked very uncomfortable at the idea of bringing more people into this.

"Why, a costume party, of course! What else would we be making costumes for?" Undyne's grin shifted into a more devious expression again and she began tapping her webbed fingers together as though she were plotting something. "Besides, humans have a day where they dress up as monsters once a year, right?"

"It's called Halloween," Alphys mumbled, mostly to herself.

"Yeah, whatever. That. It's only fair then that we get to have a day where we dress up as humans! Fuhuhuhu! It's a perfect revenge!"

I shook my head again. This was utterly ridiculous, but it might be fun to watch. And if more people were there, it was less likely that the outfit Alphys chose for Undyne would be questionable.

"W-w-ait!" Alphys called. "Does it really have to be, uh, I mean, a-a-are you really going to invite p-people?" She looked extremely uncomfortable, glancing around nervously as though checking to see that no one else could hear the conversation. I chuckled to myself. She couldn't see me, and I was listening to every word.

The fish lady ignored Alphys, caught up in her own musings. She remained silent, gazing off into space with a strange smirk on her face.

"I mean, n-not that I mind you having... friends," Alphys said shakily, "But, uh, hrm. D-do you really have to invite people? I thought this was just going to be between the t-two of us." Her mutterings tapered off into a sort of squeaky whine. It only made her look even more pathetic. She clearly was not comfortable with the idea of other people being there.

Undyne looked up as though she only just then realized that Alphys had been talking to her. "Hmm? Of course there have to be people! We can't have a party with just two people! C'mon, it'll be fun!" She grinned at her friend in what was supposed to be a reassuring way. Alphys did not look convinced.

The conversation continued, but I had mostly lost interest. Undyne continued making plans with Alphys for the costumes, ignoring the lizard's obvious discomfort at having other people coming over. The more the fish talked about the creation of the costumes rather than the event she was planning, however, the more Alphys relaxed, easing into her own ideas for what to make and how to make it. I left them while they were still talking. I had an idea for something I could mess with.

" _Asriel, I'm not sure if you noticed, but we failed. End of story. There's nothing for Mom and Dad to be proud of. They didn't even know we were going to try to break the barrier, and now we're dying. We're dead. Because of you."_

"Hey, Papyrus!" I called, poking my head above the snow. The skeleton looked up from his snowman army he was in the process of building and quickly located me.

"Ah, hello my little flowery friend!" he replied, a grin quickly spreading across his face. He pulled himself up from where he had been kneeling next to a sculpture that appeared to be in the act of throwing a snowball at another snowman. Once standing, he brushed off his shorts which were labeled "Extra cool" today.

I shivered a little. Somehow, Papyrus's shorts and T-shirt were doing nothing but emphasizing just how frigid it was in the snow. Extra cool indeed. I sort of envied the skeleton's resistance to cold. "Come to see my masterpiece, have you?" Papyrus asked, placing his hands on his hips.

It was actually kind of impressive. Papyrus may be dumb as a rock, but he did have some interesting skills. Though he probably only got good at building stuff in the snow because of how much time he spent by himself in the forests of Snowdin with nothing to do. There were at least fifteen intricate snowmen in various action poses locked in the middle of a snowball fight.

I gave the snow sculptures an appraising look, nodding as I gazed around the field. "This looks great, Papyrus!" I stated. Not that there was any point to the scene, and it would probably be torn down at some point to be made into a puzzle, but it did look pretty decent.

Papyrus nodded solidly, looking proud of himself. "Of course it is!" he proclaimed. "It was built by none other than the Master Snow Sculptor Papyrus!" His bout of bravado over, he gazed wistfully into the distance. "Ah, if only others could view and admire the beauty of my work. Then they might know of the craftsmanship of the Great Papyrus!"

I chuckled to myself. "Then why don't you build this closer to town where people can actually see it?" I asked bluntly. Idiot.

The skeleton stomped his foot in abrupt anger. "Every time I try to build something great in a place where people can see it, my worthless brother comes by and has to wreck it by making it into some sort of pun!" He grumbled to himself for a moment. I rolled my eyes. Go figure.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you something," I said, changing the topic. "I heard that Undyne is planning on throwing a party sometime soon." Papyrus cocked his head. I went on. "A costume party. You should go! Just think of how many people will be able to admire an outfit that you make!" I chuckled. Papyrus was bound to make something utterly ridiculous, and for that reason alone, I wanted to see it happen, if only so I could laugh at him.

The skeleton had a look of contemplation on his face for a moment. "Wowie!" He said, a little more subdued than normal. Then he straightened, posing in a self-confident stance. "Nyeh heh heh! The whole Underground will know of the awesome coolness of the Great Papyrus! What a fantastic idea, little flower!" He glanced down at me, a huge grin on his face. "So when is this party thing?" he asked, voice still bold.

And why would he expect me to know that? Moron. Hadn't I just told him that Undyne was still planning the dumb thing? I grinned at him, trying to hide my sudden irritation. "I'm sure Undyne will let you know more details."

"Hmm..." Papyrus mused. "Yes, of course! Undyne is bound to invite me! After all, I am the Great Papyrus! There's no way she'd purposely leave me out of a big event such as this!"

I kept the grin on my face, but I knew Papyrus well enough to know that his last statement meant that he was worried that Undyne wouldn't actually invite him. That was a good point. The stupid fish lady was probably dumb enough to think that excluding Papyrus from the party would help him in some way. She was probably concerned that he would embarrass himself in front of everyone or something. I mean, that was a legitimate concern, but Papyrus would do that anyway, invited or not.

"Now, what costume should I make?" Papyrus muttered to himself, his eyes looking almost as devious as Undyne's had been. I couldn't stand the cold anymore. Since the skeleton was distracted anyway, I retreated back into the warmth of the ground. Time to kick back and watch the show.

" _I... I don't know what to do, Chara..."_

" _There's nothing that_ can _be done, Asriel."_

This was more stupid than I had initially thought it would be, and that was saying something. Stupid for Alphys to have come up with the idea, stupid for Undyne to be insisting on turning it into a party, stupid for me to have gotten involved. I grit my teeth as I watched Papyrus proudly present his intent to make a costume to his brother.

Normally, I did everything in my power to stay away from Sans, even when I was safely underneath the ground, but Papyrus was the only one I cared to follow around. It would figure that the dumb skeleton would go to his stinking brother about this, though. Ugh. I had just assumed that Papyrus would have at least talked to Undyne about it first, but oh no. He had to talk to the smelly trash bag first. For that reason alone, I was abruptly in a bad mood.

"So what're you planning on making?" Sans asked, lying back along their ugly, beat-up couch with his arms tucked behind his head. Papyrus stood in the kitchen, hands on his hips, gazing around as though trying to find inspiration from the walls.

"I don't know!" he proclaimed.

Sans shrugged a little. "Well, whatever you make, I'm sure it'll be pretty cool."

"Of course it will be cool! I'm just not sure what that coolness will be just yet."

The taller skeleton began pacing, rubbing his chin in thought. After circling for a bit, he wandered upstairs and went into his room. I sighed in annoyance since I couldn't follow him up there. Instead, I eyed Sans, looking for any sign of him knowing I was there. Thankfully, he didn't even open his eyes. He did, however, pull out a ketchup bottle from somewhere in his jacket, pop the lid, then proceed to chug the thing. Yuck.

Papyrus burst out of his door only a short while later with an, "Aha!" He barreled down the stairs and held forth a small object in his hand. I squinted at it, trying to make out the details. It looked like some sort of action figure. "I shall wear this robot's costume!"

"Might be hard to fit in," Sans said causally, tossing the empty ketchup bottle behind the couch with an off-hand motion. "Looks a bit small."

"No, no, no! Not the actual outfit he's wearing! You know better! I will make my costume to look like this one, but big enough to fit me! And cooler!" He settled back on his heels, looking over the tiny figurine. "I will add my own personal flair to it, of course. I can't make it exactly like this one. That would by copyright!" He continued to scan the small robot, his hand covering the thing so I couldn't see what it looked like properly.

Sans shuffled into a sitting position, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "How'd you hear about this party thing, anyway?" He asked abruptly. "I haven't heard anything about it, and you don't have training with Undyne til Thursday."

I grimaced, suddenly on edge. Papyrus, however, beamed. "Let's just say a little flower told it to me!" Sans looked bemused.

"An echo flower? You heard it from an echo flower?"

"No!" Papyrus exclaimed, flushing. "It is a very special talking flower!"

Sans chuckled, eyes closing again. "Whatever, Paps. I was just curious."

Relief flooded through me. Papyrus had the decency to make it sound like he was defending himself, which in turn made him look guilty of lying. My identity was safe for now.

"So how are you planning on makin' it?" Sans asked with a yawn, stretching out his feet and reclining back. Papyrus didn't respond, one hand holding the robot while the other scratched at his jaw. After a moment of silence, the shorter skeleton opened one eye to look at his brother. "Need any help?"

"Help?" Papyrus abruptly placed his hands on his hips dramatically. "The great Papyrus does not need any help!" Sans shrugged before meeting Papyrus's gaze with a raised eyebrow, not saying anything. It was brief, but that seemed to make Papyrus change his mind. "Well... I will need resources," he muttered. "Something metal, about yea big." He gestured with his hands towards his torso. "And another one about yea big." He motioned to his pelvis.

Sans cocked his head. "Isn't metal going to be super heavy? It's just a costume."

"But it's a ROBOT costume!" Papyrus explained, sounding exasperated.

"You know you can make other things look like metal, right?" Sans said, voice flat. "Like, uh, what about those weird basketball things you wear sometimes? Couldn't you, I dunno, paint those white or something?"

"Sans, I do not have a wearable basketball big enough to wear around my chest!" He gestured wildly to his torso again. Sans shrugged.

"You never know. Don't worry, I'll find ya somethin'."

Despite this, he made no immediate movements. Papyrus went back to admiring his robot action figure, bending its little arms and legs into various poses and smiling to himself. Finally, Sans pulled himself to his feet and headed for the door. "Welp, guess I'd better get back to work," he mumbled, then vanished outside.

I waited a minute, just in case he decided to come back. When he didn't return, I popped up through the floor. "Howdy, Papyrus!" I exclaimed as cheerily as I could. The skeleton blinked before glancing down at me. He grinned when he saw me.

"Well, hello there! Welcome to my humble abode! I was not expecting company! Oh, you just missed my brother. I was hoping to introduce you two!"

"What a shame," I stated.

"Anyhoo, what can I do for you?" he asked, not seeming to have heard my dry remark. I withheld a grimace. I hated it when he asked me that.

"Um... I wanted to see what you're planning on doing for your costume!"

"Ah! I see, I see! Wanting to get a taste of the awesomeness of the Great Papyrus! Well, I'm no keeper of secrets! Behold!" He brought his action figure front and forward. Looking at it closely, it looked pretty dumb. Why did Papyrus have such a stupid thing like this?

"That'll look pretty neat when it's done," I lied.

"Hm. Yes, I should think so. After all, it will be my special outfit!" He looked way too pleased by the prospect. I had to smile at how childish and stupid he was. This was way too easy.

It was then that I noticed just how bored I was of him. Papyrus was entirely predictable. Yes, he said some of the weirdest things sometimes, but otherwise, I could guess what he was going to do before he even did it. There was no fun, no surprise. Even manipulating him had become boring. Maybe that was why I was so upset. Messing with Papyrus no longer had the same appeal it once had.

"Golly, that's neat. I can't wait to see it when it's finished." The lies spilled from my mouth easily enough, but I felt hollow inside. I gave Papyrus a half-hearted grin before diving below the ground again. The skeleton started, letting out a strange squawk as I left, but I didn't care. I glanced up just long enough to see the sad expression on his face.

"Oh. Well, goodbye then, little friend."

I continued to hang around underneath Papyrus's house, but I found that I wasn't paying any particular attention to the skeleton above me. I had lost interest. Unfortunately, I didn't know where else to go, so I stayed put. A few hours passed before Sans returned with an armful of garbage that Papyrus eagerly pounced on. I vaguely watched him work on his stupid costume, but didn't put my full attention on it. This party thing was pointless.

I had brief thoughts of attempting to sabotage the event, but what would that accomplish? It wasn't getting me any closer to breaking the barrier. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything that was getting me any closer to that goal. It had been months. Months of nothing. Even with my determination to break the barrier, there was a part of me that seriously doubted that I would ever get to that point.

" _No. You're wrong. There is always something that can be done. Things will work out. You'll see, Chara. I'll prove it to you."_

Undyne looked deflated as she stood outside the laboratory door. It was somewhat comical seeing her dressed head to toe in an outfit more befitting a little girl. I had overheard the term "Warrior Princess" used to describe it, but the bright pink, very feminine kimono with a giant bow tied in the back was an odd look for Undyne, even if it did come with a giant sword. The fish lady read and reread the piece of paper that had been haphazardly slapped to the door, her lip curled in a grimace.

Between the odd angle and the horrible handwriting, I couldn't actually read what the note said, but I had a number of guesses. "What does she mean, 'something came up,'" Undyne growled. "We were working together on these costumes just yesterday! What could possibly come up that's more important than this party? We've been planning this forever!" She stopped, knuckling her forehead. "No, it's ok. She's probably got something important she needs to work on. She wouldn't have canceled if it wasn't important."

I knew from checking that Alphys wasn't doing anything at all, just huddling over her security system and gnawing on her claws as she watched Undyne from the safety of her lab. It would figure that I hadn't even needed to sabotage the event for it to go wrong. Of course Alphys would bail. She was still high-strung from the constant letters she kept getting from the families of the amalgamates. I chuckled a bit over Undyne muttering to herself.

In the weeks leading up to the day of the party I had already been able to tell that Alphys wasn't actually planning on going. While she was perfectly happy making costumes with Undyne from whatever scraps they could find in the dumpster, going out in public was definitely not Alphys's kind of thing. Especially when she feared people finding out the truth about what happened to all those monsters that still hadn't come home. Undyne had doomed the party just by inviting people.

Of course, it wasn't like Undyne had invited a huge ton of people. The only ones there were Asgore, the skeleton brothers, and a few members from the royal guard like 01 and 02. Asgore had clearly not gotten the memo of what counted as a costume and had simply put on a name tag that said, "Hello, my name is Not Asgore" with his otherwise usual attire. Sans hadn't even bothered wearing a costume, though he had helped Papyrus with making his. I only knew that because I had watched the two of them. Currently, all the party guests were back at Undyne's house. Undyne had only left to investigate why Alphys never showed up.

It was kind of sad, really. The fish lady had put quite a lot of work into making this party thing, and she had done so specifically with Alphys in mind, but because of her cowardice, Alphys had ruined it all. Undyne was clearly disappointed. She continued to stand outside of the laboratory at a loss for what to do. Monsters were such silly creatures, always trying to find the best in others even when others could never live up to those expectations. It seemed funny to me that Undyne was the bravest monster in the underground, but the woman she had a crush on was the complete opposite. How stupid could you get?

I watched the rest of the party, but like everything else in the underground, it wasn't really that interesting. I only faintly paid attention to what was going on. Before I knew it, the party was over. Three whole weeks of buildup and the thing was over in the blink of an eye.

I found myself back to aimlessly wandering the hallways with no goal or purpose in mind, the spark of determination only faintly pulsing in me. Perhaps nothing good would ever come again. Maybe it was better to drop into emptiness. After all, I was somewhat already there.

" _I don't know how, but we're going to make it, you and I. We'll stick together, no matter what, and we will find a way to get past all of this. It's what we do. We survive."_

I had to shake myself out of the depression again. It took me a few days, but I did it. I couldn't let that destroy me. Not yet. There was still a barrier, and somehow I would find a way to break it. It was that drive that led me to the ruins. I figured that while Toriel was waiting for a human to fall down so she could "save" them, I could be one step ahead of her. Apparently six humans had already been dumb enough to fall down this stupid hole, maybe one day another would come. I couldn't get the six souls from Asgore, but I only needed one in order to get past the barrier and grab whatever souls I needed from up there.

Coming back to the place where I had first met Chara felt odd to me. In some ways, it felt a little nostalgic seeing the sunlight filtering down and dancing over the cave floor. The golden flowers that grew there were a lot like the ones back in the throne room, but somehow they seemed more at peace here. I sat and watched until my mind numbed. I wasn't sure how long I was there for. A few days at least. With the sunlight running its normal cycle above, I could at least tell when it was day or night, but I didn't care enough to note exactly how many times the cycle went.

A sharp snap brought my attention back into focus. I immediately looked up and caught sight of movement as a humanoid shadow started to fall. What luck! For an instant, it almost seemed like I was watching Chara again. I shook my head. No. This wasn't Chara. This was some other dumb human. A dumb human that was about to die. They crashed to the ground with a muffled sound, petals and leaves breaking beneath them to soften the blow.

No! This was not Chara! Chara was dead! But even as the human moaned and rolled over, it looked so much like her... I shook my head forcefully. And then, as the figure slowly stood up, I could see the differences. It was almost a relief. No, it really wasn't Chara. Similar, perhaps, but not the same. I grinned from where I sat under the rocks, determination flooding through me. Maybe it was fate that drew me down here or sheer dumb luck, but somehow I was there right when I needed to be. This was it! I would finally do it! I would finally break the barrier this time!

Suddenly in a cheerful mood, I popped up out of the ground a little ways down the path and waited for the human to stagger towards me. I had to be crafty about this. I probably couldn't outright slaughter them, but maybe if I caught them by surprise...

I put on my best innocent smile.

" _We'll do it together."_

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!

End

* * *

Author note: Sorry for taking so long to finish the story. I know it's long overdue. Life happened. No really, I went to college, got married, started my own business, etc etc. There's been a lot of stuff that's happened and FloweyTale had to take a huge backseat to it all. I appreciate your patience and understanding. Thank you so much for reading FloweyTale! I really wanted to write this mostly because I feel like Flowey is often misunderstood. I see a lot of stuff that makes Flowey seem like an alternate personality that took over Asriel, but I wanted to show that Flowey really is Asriel and vice versa. To me, that makes Asriel a much deeper character, someone who's gone through so much and is still able to find his compassion and apologize at the end of everything. Through writing this, I grew a much deeper understanding and appreciation for all of the characters, not just Flowey himself. It's just funny to love the characters and force myself to write from the perspective of someone who hates them all. Sans in particular was fun to write because he's my favorite character and Flowey's least favorite character. If the ending seems abrupt, that's because it is. I spent a long time writing and re-writing bits of this chapter without knowing how to best end it. I finally got to the point where I just needed to make an end and call it done. I didn't want to venture forth into the rest of Undertale because I didn't want to undermine the genius that is the original game. All I can say is that I hope you enjoyed the story!


End file.
